


I'm a Survivor

by MyCurrentObsession



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Minor Character Death, Multi, Spoilers, ndrv3 endgame spoilers! as in this fic tells you who the canon mastermind is in the first chapter!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-10-16 13:26:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10572231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyCurrentObsession/pseuds/MyCurrentObsession
Summary: MAJOR NDRV3 SPOILERS AHEAD!Whether he remembers it or not, Amami Rantarou is still the Super High School Level Survivor. He’s not dying that easily. (Or, an exploration of what might have happened if Amami survived both murder attempts and, consequently, Akamatsu didn't get executed for killing him)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic in literal years, so I'm probably a little rusty. If so, I'm open to constructive criticism! I'm trying to be as accurate as possible in regards to canon references and characterization, so please correct me if I'm wrong. I've READ spoilers, but I'm actually watching a translated playthrough of the game that's only at chapter 4 right now, so I haven't seen everything. Also, the quirks of that translation ARE in my writing, to an extent. That's where I got Tenko calling guys "MENaces" from and, later, why Ouma calls Kiibo Kii-baby.

Speaking honestly, Amami didn’t have much of a plan. He knew about the hidden door in the library thanks to his special Monopad, though, and he had to do  _something,_ or else he and everyone else would certainly die. The message on his extra Monopad was the only clue he had to go off of, and while a part of him felt like he was being led into a trap, he couldn't just ignore the chance to end the game, no matter the risks.

His memories were muddled; he had no clue what his talent was. He had no idea why he was the only one who received an extra Monopad that had a message for him and the blueprints of what the school would look like when it was finished. He didn't know who he could trust - or if he could event trust himself.

And so, with no memory to rely on, Amami chose to gamble his safety - possibly even his _life_ \- for the opportunity to put an end to the killing game. As their two-day time limit neared its end, he excused himself from Momota’s “strategy meeting” and headed for the library.

He’d sworn to Akamatsu and the rest that he would end the game, and that was exactly what he intended to do… somehow. If that meant confronting the mastermind – potentially _killing_ the mastermind – well, he’d cross that bridge when he got to it.

At the very least, he wasn’t going to die until he could remember something about the “Super High School Level Hunt.” He refused to die until he knew what that meant, and why it was so important that the Monopad would mention  _that_ and not his own talent.

His talent... what could it be? Did it have anything to do with his weird instinctual feelings?

While exploring the school, somehow he’d just _known_ which areas would be dangerous and potential murder locations. He couldn’t explain it; it was just a sense he’d gotten from places.

The gym was dangerous. The dormitory was fine – probably. Even though he could easily imagine someone killing someone inside their own room or the victim’s room, for some reason he got the feeling it would never happen. The classrooms were also fine, as was the cafeteria. The boiler room and the space underneath rang some alarms, even _without_ taking the deathtrap “exit tunnel” into account.

The library struck him as the most suspicious of all, _especially_ with that mysterious hidden door.

Most people have at least a small awareness, a radar for danger. Having a sense of self-preservation is natural; however, he couldn't help but think that his own perception of all the risks were... clearer than the others. Heightened and honed somehow. Almost as if he'd experienced something similar before.

_But that's not possible... right?_

His mind spinning in circles, Amami tried to brush away and doubts and concerns, and he stepped into the library.

\---

In the classroom, Akamatsu and Saihara jumped as the buzzer indicating someone was in the library – the buzzer signaling the start of their trap – went off. The pair leaped into action, running for the door.

Saihara left instantly, thinking of nothing but catching the mastermind red-handed.

Akamatsu stopped, just for a moment, unbeknownst to her companion. It was a small, but oh-so important moment.

 _I’m sorry, Saihara-kun_ , she thought. _I know this wasn’t what you intended, but I have to be sure. Trapping the mastermind might not be enough, assuming it’s even possible. But with this… the killing game will definitely,_ definitely _end._

With grim determination, Akamatsu Kaede put her own plan into motion.

\---

The camera flash had caught him by surprise – unlike almost everything else thus far, he hadn’t seen it coming; hadn’t had even the slightest inkling. Then again, a camera by itself wasn’t that harmful, so perhaps it had flown under the radar for his apparent knack for sensing danger.

Still, as he approached the camera – and promptly got another flash to the face for his troubles – he couldn’t help but wonder…

_Is this… part of a trap? That Monopad... maybe it was a mistake to trust it._

He fiddled with the camera, considering turning off the flash, before ultimately putting it back in place as it was. It was annoying, but his instincts told him to leave it alone, and they hadn’t failed him yet.

He glanced around the room, mind returning to the idea of the camera being a trap. _If it is, then who is it meant for? And why?_

The answer came in the sound of something he couldn’t immediately identify. It was faint and _almost_ impossible to hear over that godawful loud music playing on all the monitors (if it could even be called music). Almost.

Though he couldn’t place the sound, he could locate it. It came from above him, so he looked up and scanned the – _carefully organized… were they like that before?_ – books lining the top of the bookcases. The sound came nearer and nearer, and he took a cautious step back. Then he saw it –

It was a ball. More specifically, a heavy shot put ball, rolling off the bookcase nearest him from what had apparently been a ramp made of carefully arranged books and – _not_ right toward him. It veered and fell awkwardly to the side, not hitting him, and not hitting even the place he’d been standing.

The ball would have missed even if he hadn’t moved.

A part of him wants to relax in that moment; to take a minute and scoff at that poor attempt on his life before getting back to business unhindered. A larger part of him, comprised mostly of the survival instincts he’s been relying on thus far, stays on edge.

Despite the failed murder attempt, he feels _more_ tense, _more_ in danger.

And he was right to stay on guard.

Out of the very corner of his eye, he sees _something_ coming closer and closer, and he whirls around faster than his would-be murderer – the second one _that night_ – anticipates.

“Shirogane-san?” he says, taking in the sight of Shirogane Tsumugi staring at him in open shock, another shot put ball in her hand.

And that’s when she tries to bash his head in.

Amami reflexively raises an arm and blocks the attack, stopping the arc or her arm. The ball that could’ve possibly smashed his skull instead barely grazes his hair; he still feels as if he’s just lost a few years of his life.

With his free hand, he grabs her wrist firmly, holding the arm that has the weapon and freeing his own arm. She struggles to free herself from his grip, but he’s stronger and she can’t pull away.

She uses her free hand to try and smack and punch him; again, he blocks with his own free arm, before dropping his Monopad and grabbing her other arm. She’s truly panicked now, as he has both her wrists in his grasp.

“Shirogane-san, what are you doing?! Why are you trying to kill me?!” he demands. Then, as an afterthought, “Did you set up the ball and camera trap in here?”

Her response is to knee him in the groin.

The pain is excruciating, and just for a moment, his grip loosens. She pulls away and hesitates. Shirogane could try and attack him again in his moment of weakness, or she could run.

She chooses to try and kill him, and that’s a mistake.

Amami’s not sure himself how he’s able to endure it – there’s a voice in the back of his head, just chanting, _survival instinct, survival instinct, survival instinct_ – but not only does he _not_ crumple to the floor from the hit to his groin, he also manages to block her attack once more and, in a moment of inspiration, throw himself on her.

The two collapse onto the floor, him on top. There's a _crack_ as something breaks from them landing on it - the Monopad. His  _one_ clue, his  _one_ hope, broken, but no - now's not the time to think about that. After a brief scuffle, he once again has both her wrists pinned, _and_ he’s made sure she can’t hit him where it hurts again. He tightens his grip on her wrists to the point of pain, and she cries out softly.

“Shirogane-san,” he pants, angry now, “answer me.”

“No!” she says, still writhing and struggling beneath him. “Let me go!”

“After you tried to kill me? No way.”

“I don’t understand!” Shirogane exclaims, still panicking. “You should’ve died! Why couldn’t I kill you? This wasn’t supposed to—”

She’s cut off by the library door bursting open.

\---

Outside the library, they run into Momota and Chabashira.

Akamatsu is… relieved. She didn’t want to believe _any_ of the others were the mastermind, but if one of them were, she _especially_ didn’t want to believe it was one of those two, both of whom she’d already somewhat befriended.

She quickly invites the two along to the library. She’s not sure what to expect. Gruesome as the thought may be, she’s hopeful it’s a dead body – the body of the mastermind. If she succeeded, the killing game will be over, and everyone will be able to go home.

All but the traitor amongst them, at least.

But there’s a possibility the mastermind eluded her trap and is still alive, and there’s strength in numbers. And if it comes down to physically restraining someone, she’s a lot more confident in Momota and Chabashira than she is in Saihara, honestly.

Unfortunately, since the two are out of the loop they waste time – time _they really don’t have, come ON already, we have to move!_ – asking questions and getting fired up about facing the mastermind.

Akamatsu and Saihara hurry them along as best they can, but, to her, every second wasted feels like an eternity in which it’s _that_ much more likely they’ll miss their chance to catch the mastermind.

Even so, the sight that greets them when they throw open the doors isn’t one she expected.

Akamatsu had prepared herself mentally for a few different scenarios, briefly. The mastermind is a stranger, and she managed to kill them (the ideal but unlikely scenario); the mastermind is a stranger but still alive and a threat (better than it being a classmate, at least); the mastermind is a classmate, and she killed them (definitely sad, but at least it would mean the end of the killing game); the mastermind is a classmate and still alive (that would mean an upsetting confrontation with a would-be friend, but at least they’d know); or finally, the worst-case scenario, the mastermind gets away before they catch them, leaving them with no clue as to who they are or how to beat them.

But this? This hadn’t even crossed her mind.

The scene in the library that the four stumble upon is this:

Shirogane, splayed out helplessly on the floor (never mind the weapon in her hand), clearly terrified; Amami, on top of her, pinning her down, clearly _pissed off_.

Both of them, frozen in shock at the sudden intrusion and staring up at the four in the doorway.

Everyone, stunned and confused about what to do.

The bookcase leading to the hidden door this whole venture was all about isn’t even open.

Out of all of them, Amami recovers first. “Um,” he starts, looking uncertainly between them and Shirogane, “this isn’t what it looks like. I can—“

He’s cut off by a feral scream. It’s Chabashira, who follows it up by charging at him and then _throwing him_ across the room.

He hits a bookcase – one of the ones that hadn’t been tampered with, that still had books haphazardly stacked on top of it – _hard_ , and from the jolt, a mountain of books comes raining down on him.

The room flies into chaos.

Saihara’s immediately rushing toward Amami, who is buried under a pile of books, shouting out concern for the boy’s wellbeing.

Chabashira’s screaming about what a _men_ ace Amami is and how she won’t let him hurt Shirogane-san.

Momota’s yelling at Chabashira, cursing and questioning her for suddenly attacking Amami, getting the girl more riled up in the process.

Shirogane is still lying paralyzed on the floor as the terrible countdown “music” continues to blare on every monitor.

Akamatsu is frozen. _Two…? There were two people in the room? Which one is it, then? Which one is the mastermind? Both? Neither? How are we supposed to know?_

 _Hey… what am I supposed to do now? I have even more questions and_ no _answers! Hey…_

“Hey!” she shouts, and everyone freezes. “Everybody stop! Momota-kun, Chabashira-san, knock it off!”

From where they’d been about five seconds away from a full-fledged fight, the pair in question backs away from each other, averting their eyes. After a moment of hesitation, Shirogane sits up, and Saihara finishes pulling a wincing Amami out of the wreckage.

With the exception of Shirogane, who is staring at her lap with an unreadable expression on her face, all eyes are on Akamatsu. She has the floor. They’re looking to _her_ for guidance on where to go from here – too bad she has no clue, either.

She passes the baton to Saihara. “So…” she starts, “What now, Saihara-kun?”

The boy freezes. “Eh?”

“I mean,” she prods him, hoping for answers, “Is one of them the mastermind? If so, which one?”

“W-well…” Saihara demurs.

Her frustration spikes. _Come on, Saihara-kun! You’re the Super High School Level Detective, aren’t you? If anyone can figure this out, it’s you! Have some confidence in your own abilities! If_ I _believe, why can’t you? I put so much faith into you and this plan that I was even willing to kill someone, after all!_

Akamatsu takes a deep breath and tries again. “You said that if someone came to the library just before time ran out that they were probably the mastermind! That they—”

“Well, y-yes, I said that, but…”

“—would be heading for the door behind the bookcase, and we could catch them! I believed that! I _still_ believe that! So—”

“I also would like to believe that, a-and I’m still suspicious, but now…”

“—which is it, Saihara-kun?! Is one of them the mastermind, or not?!”

“I don’t know!” he snaps, and she can feel the last bit of hope she had left for catching the mastermind slipping away. “I’m sorry, Akamatsu-san, but I just… don’t know.”

A tense silence spreads through the library. There are less than twenty minutes before time is up. Momota and Chabashira both seem set to speak up, confusion and a need to understand written clearly across their faces, but ultimately it’s Amami who breaks the silence.

“…Oh, I get it.”

“Get what?” is Momota’s frustrated response. “I didn’t understand half of what they just said! Hey, somebody hurry up and explain what the fuck is going on, already!”

Amami ignores him. “Hey,” he says, an intent look on his face, “Saihara-kun, Akamatsu-san. It was you two who set up the camera in here, right? To catch the mastermind?”

Akamatsu inhales sharply. She has a feeling she knows where this is going.

Saihara is blessedly ignorant. “Eh? You noticed the cameras?”

Amami shoots him a curious look. “Well, of course.” That said, he walks towards the center bookcase – the one behind which lays the hidden door – and a flash goes off, brightening the room for a moment.

“How could I not, with the flash on?” Amami finishes, noting how confused the other boy is – and how _tense_ Akamatsu is.

“But the flash wasn’t supposed to be…” Saihara stops, turns. _Looks_ at the girl he’s been working with and trusting this entire time. “Akamatsu-san…?”

There’s disbelief in his voice, and on his face. She _hates_ the way he’s looking at her, wondering, assessing. _Doubting_. She can practically _see_ the gears turning in his head, leading him to the inevitable conclusion – she tried to kill someone.

“A-ah, oops!” she’s stuttering, lying before she can stop herself. “I’m such an idiot! I must have forgotten to turn the flash off by accident!”

The lie is clumsy and badly delivered; it doesn’t take a detective to know she’s not being honest. But Saihara’s a coward – revealing the truth and suffering the consequences scares him. Better to believe a happy lie than uncover the ugly truth.

She can see the spark of hope return to his eyes; she knows he’s going to believe her, if only out of willful denial; out of a desperate desire for her to be as good as he thought she was. She hates him a little bit in that moment, for being such a coward, but more than that she hates _herself_ , for being one along with him. She _wants_ to face the truth; wants _Saihara_ to face the truth – but she can’t bring herself to disappoint him, even if the guilt kills her.

Before the detective can readily agree to her lie, however, Amami chimes in.

“ _Oh_. I see. There were two _different_ traps here.”

Amami knows. Amami knows what she’s done and he’s going to expose her. _Good_. Guilt and anger and sorrow and a whole mess of other emotions swirl within her, and she glares at him, daring him – _provoking him_ – to do it.

 _Do it,_ she screams internally. _Just do it! Get it over with. But please… do it quickly. Make it like… ripping off a Band-Aid. The sooner it’s over, the better._

Whatever his talent is, they can rule out telepathic. Amami takes his sweet time, dragging it out.

“So Akamatsu-san _accidentally_ left the flash on, huh?” He pauses to glance around the room. “You know, I didn’t actually know there was more than one camera in here until you said it, Saihara-kun. Good job hiding them.”

 _This is painful_.

With balled fists, Akamatsu grits out, “Stop stalling. Whatever you’re going to say, just say it.”

 _Please_.

He blinks at her, face unreadable, before continuing. “In addition to the camera, it would seem Akamatsu-san also _accidentally_ organized those books on top of the bookcases into a makeshift ramp. She then _accidentally_ threw a shot put ball into a vent connected to the one here in the library, hoping the ball would roll down the ramp and off the bookcase onto the head of whoever was attracted by the flash of the camera.”

He paused, letting that sink in. “…Of course, there’s no way all that was an accident. I don’t know how she knew _when_ to throw the ball, but I’m guessing it has something to do with your, ah, _timely arrival_ here in the library. Some kind of sensor maybe?”

…It’s done. Done in quite possibly the cruelest way _ever_ , but done. Her crime is out in the open, for the world – or at least the group of people in the library – to see. After a perfect explanation like that, there’s no way that even Saihara could deny—

“But,” the detective starts, “but if t-that’s true, then there should be a shot put ball—”

 _He’s actually trying to deny it? Saihara-kun,_ please _stop! You have to accept this._

After remaining silent all this time, Chabashira speaks up. “R-right! Tenko doesn’t believe it either! Tenko… also still doesn’t totally understand what’s going on, but it sounds like Amami-san is accusing Akamatsu-san of trying to kill him, and Tenko just can’t believe that! Not without proof!”

 _You, too, Chabashira-san. I’m grateful that you think so much of me, but we_ all _have to accept what I’ve done._

Amami is, once again, her saving grace. With a scoff, he walks to the corner of the would-be crime – getting _another_ camera flash to the face in the process – and stoops to pick something up. It is, of course, the shot put ball.

“Here’s your weapon,” he says. “Is that proof enough for you, Chabashira-san? What about you, Mister Detective?”

Chabashira is silent. Momota is silent. Saihara…

“I—” he starts. The look on his face breaks her heart. “—maybe…”

“Stop,” Akamatsu says. “Just stop trying to defend me. Please, Saihara-kun.”

He won’t look her in the eye. “But…”

“I admit it.” _That_ gets the attention of everyone in the room. “Amami-kun is completely right. I set this up. I went along with your plan, and I… I _used_ you, Saihara-kun, to try and kill the mastermind. I thought…”

God, she can’t do this. Her voice is breaking, her eyes are tearing up. Saihara’s already crying, stiffly, quietly, as she forces him to acknowledge the truth (and so is Chabashira, actually, despite not being involved in what was happening).

Somehow, she manages to continue. “I thought if I killed the mastermind, the killing game would definitely end. I thought getting that blood on my hands would be worth it if it meant saving everyone else. I thought I could carry that guilt for the sake of everyone’s future. But now…”

She’s really crying now, tears streaming down her face as she speaks, but still she keeps going. “Now I’m not so sure. I believed in you, but I _hurt_ you, Saihara-kun! And killing someone… that’s not something I can take back. I’m sorry – I’m so, so sorry if I’ve let you down, Saihara-kun, and Amami-kun…”

She turns to the boy she almost killed, who is watching her with something like pity in his eyes. “To be honest, I still believe in Saihara-kun’s words. I believe that you being here so close to the end of the time limit is suspicious, and that you could be the mastermind. But whether you are or not, I don’t know. And either way, I know now I’d have regretted it if I killed you, so I’m so sorry that you almost died because of me.”

She bows at the waist, lowering her head partly in apology to Amami, partly so she can no longer see Saihara, who had turned away in the middle of her speech to cover his face with a hand, shoulders heaving.

\---

Amami _had_ honestly been pretty miffed about the attempt on his life, but, hearing her motives, so similar to his own, he can’t help but soften to her. Also, it’s his brotherly instinct – when he sees someone crying, he comforts them. That simple.

He puts on a peaceful smile and says, “It’s okay. I forgive you, Akamatsu-san. I can understand why you did it, and at least you were targeting the mastermind and not me specifically. That’s more than I can say about the other person who tried to kill me tonight, _right, Shirogane-san_?”

Externally, his expression doesn’t change. Internally, he feels viciously victorious. _You didn’t honestly think I wouldn’t notice you trying to escape, did you? Oh, no, I’m not letting you off that easily._

\---

All the tension that had gradually left the room was back in an instant, as everyone realized the girl who’d been quiet all this time – the one they’d practically _forgotten_ about in the midst of everything – had been carefully, stealthily sneaking towards the closest door in an attempt to escape. And if it weren’t for Amami calling attention to her, quite pointedly so, she would’ve made it.

Shirogane freezes by the doorway, the doorknob already partially turned in her hand, as five pairs of eyes suddenly bore into her back.

Damn Amami. Damn him to hell. If she had just managed to kill him – or better yet, if Akamatsu’s trap hadn’t been fucking awful and _she_ had killed him – then none of this would be happening. Her plan wouldn’t have gone terribly off the rails. But really, she can’t blame Akamatsu _too_ much. She _had_ kind of expected the girl to fail, after all, which was why she’d made sure she could finish the job if necessary.

If murder and a frame job were what it took to kick-start the game and the story – _her_ story, that she’d put her blood, sweat, and tears into, like any committed fan – into action, then so be it. This game was _going_ to happen, and it was _going_ to be the way she’d planned it.

 _Amami_ is the one to blame, really. She had underestimated him. Even with his memories gone, one doesn’t survive three killing games – achieving a new record and becoming legitimately worthy of the title Super High School Level Survivor in the process – without learning a thing or two, and, well, _the body remembers what the mind forgets_. His instincts and reflexes were as honed as ever, and that was something she hadn’t been counting on.

Now, frozen by the door, Shirogane’s mind races a mile a minute as she considers the possibilities.

She could just cut and run. She has enough distance between them, and she doubts they’d expect her to, buying her precious extra seconds before they pursue her. She could probably make it to her room, hole up in there.

There are, after all, only seven, soon-to-be six minutes left until time runs out.

Shirogane knows better than anyone how serious the threat of mass execution is. As the mastermind (in game, at least), she _should_ have amnesty from the slaughter, but, well…

She’d involved herself in the story, and gotten caught. Somehow, she didn’t think the _real_ masterminds would be granting her any mercy when she was shaping up to be a failure so soon into the game.

So that option was out.

She _could_ try to quickly kill someone in the room before time ran out. Even if the others all saw her do it, due to the special first kill rule so long as she admitted it – and she had absolutely no reason not to, unlike her planned first culprit – she’d get away scot-free.

…Get away from the killing game, at least. Again, she can already anticipate the punishment that would come afterward from the real masterminds. And that’s assuming she even _could_ quickly kill someone here before being taken down. Chabashira and Amami are out of the question; Momota wouldn’t see it coming, but she doubts she could take him out in one hit, which is certainly all she’ll have; Saihara and Akamatsu are the easiest targets… and also the farthest away from her, _of course_.

_Dammit. That’s out, too._

There’s only one option left to her.

With a handful of minutes left before they’re all dead, she’ll play her part. She can only hope her bluff is enough to convince her classmates – and if she’s really lucky, her superiors.

\---

“Looks like we’ve got another failure on our hands. God, it’s been at least ten seasons since we had a genuinely good mastermind. And here she’d seemed so promising with the shocking protagonist switch idea.”

“Don’t count her out just yet. Let’s see how she plays this.”

Elsewhere, outside the game, a group of people are watching a collection of monitors, all showing different locations of the school. On one screen, Shirogane releases the doorknob and turns towards the other students in the library, a desperate look on her face.

 _“That’s not it!_ ” The girl on screen beseeches her audience.

Amami is unimpressed. _“Oh? So you_ didn’t _try to kill me?”_

 _“Wait a moment!”_ It’s Chabashira piping up. _“Tenko is confused! Just a moment ago, we were talking about Akamatsu-san trying to kill Amami-san. Now you’re trying to say that Shirogane-san_ also _tried to kill you?”_

_“Yes, exactly. That’s why I was pinning her down when you all came in. To keep her from—”_

_“Tenko doesn’t believe it! Tenko absolutely doesn’t believe it! You were trying to take advantage of her like the_ men _ace you are, and—”_

Even on one tiny screen surrounded by dozens of others, Amami’s irritation is clearly visible. _“Seriously? Did you_ not _see the weapon in her hands then? The weapon that she’s_ still _holding onto now, for that matter?”_

“ _What weapon? Tenko doesn’t see a weapon!”_

 _“It’s here.”_ All eyes are on Shirogane, inside the game and out. The girl shakily holds up the hand she’d been trying to hide, revealing another shot put ball. Chabashira gasps; Saihara’s eyes narrow.

“What the hell is Shirogane _doing_?”

“Shut up, and we’ll see.”

On the screen, Momota takes a step forward. _“Oi, Shirogane. Are you confessing? You tried to kill that guy, too?”_

_“…Yes. I did.”_

_“Seriously?!”_ Momota scratches the back of his head on screen, seeming uncertain about how to proceed, before deciding on, “ _And with the same weapon and everything? Man, that’s one crazy coincidence!”_

 _“…Yes.”_ Gone is the distress from Saihara’s face. He’s in full detective mode now. _“It’s quite strange.”_

“She might as well have admitted she’s the fucking mastermind! Saihara’s not gonna let this go.”

“Hmm. I wonder.”

Shirogane seems to come to the same realization that she can’t let Saihara focus on the weapon any longer, and she starts babbling. _“A-anyway! I admit that I tried to murder Amami-kun, but you have it all wrong! Just like Akamatsu-san, it was nothing personal, I swear! He was just the first person I saw alone once I decided to go through with this!”_

_“What do you mean, once you decided to go through with this?”_

_“Were you not planning to commit murder originally?”_

Akamatsu and Saihara both questioned her. Shirogane started crying, turning her tearful gaze toward the boy, who looked away awkwardly. _“Of course not! I don’t think anyone_ wants _to commit murder! It’s just… I don’t want to die, you know?! The time limit kept getting closer and closer, and I…”_

 _“Shirogane-san, please tell us exactly what happened.”_ Saihara’s tone is pacifying, but there’s still suspicion in his eyes.

The girl sniffles and begins to spin a tale for them. _“It was… about an hour and a half ago, I think? I was eating dinner with a few other latecomers. Shinguuji-kun, Iruma-san, and Toujou-san. But I couldn’t stop thinking about the time limit. I just couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to die. That’s why… right then, I decided to kill someone. I said I needed to go to the bathroom and excused myself…”_

“That’s… true, right?”

“This part, yeah. Which is good; means she’ll have people to back up her story.”

“What does that matter? She and everyone else will be dead in like three minutes, anyway.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

The voice came from a man watching a different monitor than the rest. He peered intently at the screen, and seemed quite satisfied with what he saw.

“Just because her plan failed, it doesn’t mean you can say for sure no murder will happen,” he says. “It’s still too soon for that.”

“But sir!” protested another voice, “there are only three minutes, twenty-four seconds left until time runs out. And once it does, the mass punishment starts immediately!”

“Delay it.”

“W-what?”

“Two minutes. Delay it. Let ‘em sweat. And in that time…” he trailed off, still staring at the same screen with interest, “…we might just get what we’re all waiting for.”

\---

Should she fall to her knees? Would that be too much, too clearly overdramatic? _Well, whatever. Saihara’s something of a bleeding heart; it’s worth a shot._

Shirogane collapses to her knees, dropping the shot put ball to hug herself tightly as she continues her story. “Instead of going to the bathroom, I went to the school storage room. There were so many things in there; I just figured there _had_ to be something I could use…”

“And you found a shot put ball.” Saihara’s tone is flat, his expression dubious.

Shirogane knows what she needs to say; has the defense ready on her tongue, when Amami chimes in. “It _is_ awfully suspicious – or should I say _convenient_ – that you found the same exact weapon as Akamatsu-san. Why, imagine what would’ve happened if you’d successfully killed me and escaped the room? Everyone would’ve thought _she_ did it!”

Her words die in her mouth. He knows. _He knows_. Just from this, he’s figured out this much. How long before he puts the rest of the pieces together? Truly, his experience (remembered or otherwise) and instincts are _much_ more dangerous than Saihara’s detective skills. Ugh, that was _why_ she’d planned on him being the first victim. He was too big a threat to leave unchecked.

Akamatsu, of all people, comes to her aid. “They _are_ kind of right there on display when you walk in,” she says. “That’s… how I ended up finding them and taking one while you were off looking for cameras, Saihara-kun.”

Shirogane knows this. She planted them there for that purpose.

Saihara didn’t know this, and hearing it when he hasn’t even had time to process what Akamatsu had done – or rather, tried to do – draws a pained expression to his face. There’s a moment of silence before he simply says, “…Please continue.”

Amami gives a dissatisfied hum, but says nothing.

She nods fervently at Saihara. “After I had a weapon, I… went looking for someone to use it on. I knew of the others in the cafeteria, but I figured I should try to catch someone alone. I didn’t see anyone else around on the first floor, so I went into the basement, and that’s when I saw Amami-kun heading into the library alone. I went after him, and, well—”

“Wait.” _Shit._ “How and when did you get into the basement, Shirogane-san?”

_Fuck._

She has no choice but to play dumb. “E-eh? What do you mean? I just went to the basement using the staircase, obviously. It was… a little after nine, I think?”

“That’s impossible,” Saihara says. “Akamatsu-san and I were in the classroom closest to that staircase watching it. There’s no way you could have gone by without us noticing.”

_Shitfuck._

She can see the doubt on Saihara’s face – and on Akamatsu’s too. _Of course_ she knows they were watching that staircase, but as far as they know there’s no other way to get down to the basement. Pretending she slipped past them is her _only choice_.

Shirogane plasters on her most innocent, airheaded expression. “I’m sorry, Saihara-kun. I don’t know what to tell you. Those stairs are the only way down to the basement, and, well, I’m down here, so…” She tosses in a placating smile. If there’s one thing she can do, it’s lie. “Are you sure there was no chance of you just missing me? Not a moment where you were distracted? Maybe…” she pauses to direct a pointed glance at Akamatsu, waiting for Saihara to follow her gaze. “…you were briefly lost in conversation with Akamatsu-san? You two have gotten pretty close, it seems.”

Rubbing that little bit of salt in the wound does the trick. Saihara and Akamatsu both look away from her, faces downcast.

That should be enough for them to let it go. That _has_ to be enough.

…Well, even if it isn’t, they’re out of time, anyway. She’s done what she can to plead her case, more to her superiors than her classmates, and she can only hope it’s enough to spare her life.

“Hey,” she says, voice shaking out of genuine fear, “there’s… no time left. Are we going to spend our last moments arguing and doubting each other?”

As if to demonstrate her point, that awful, _awful_ music finally stops. The monitors blink off. Any second now and Monokuma and his children will begin the slaughter.

Momota’s eyes widen. “Shit! Is it time already?!”

“No! Tenko’s not ready to die! She’ll go down fighting if she has to!” Chabashira wails, looking a lot less confident than she sounds.

Momota’s eyes get impossibly wider as he realizes – “ _FUCK_ , the strategy meeting!”

The library door flies open, and Shirogane braces herself for the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for the first chapter! I'm already about halfway through the second chapter, but I'll wait to post it until I'm partially done with the third (and so on and so forth). Please tell me what you think! Like I said in my beginning notes, this is my first time writing fic in years (and my first time EVER writing for Danganronpa), so I'm pretty nervous. My main concern is characterization and balancing the huge starting cast. I'm not too happy with the fact that two or three characters were basically just standing around doing nothing at any given time throughout the library discussion(s). I'll definitely try and improve on that by the time we hit the trial. Another thing - despite Amami's survival being the big point of change in this fic, I should note that Akamatsu is the true star and protagonist. She is in fact the ONLY person I'll guarantee is going to live at this point. I have a tentative idea of my ending and the survivors, but not much clue for the middle, so that ending could very well change. I will promise that Amami is nonetheless going to be a major player in this - along with Akamatsu, he and Shirogane are going to be the big pov characters. There will also be scenes from Saihara's point of view, and POSSIBLY Momota's.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got away from me in length... It's a bit longer than I intend for future chapters to be, just a warning. I'm guessing most chapters will be somewhere between five to six thousand words.

To everyone’s surprise, it isn’t a Monokuma Cub riding an Exisal coming to gun them down.

Instead, it’s Harukawa. And she is _livid_.

Saihara is almost as terrified of her in that moment as he expected to be of the coming doom. _Almost_.

Momota gulps before shaking off his gobsmacked expression and trying to diffuse the situation. “Harukawa, listen – about the strategy meeting—”

“You mean the one _you_ planned and dragged everyone into and then _blew off_? The one we have literally _no time_ for now? _That_ strategy meeting?”

Oh, if looks could kill.

Harukawa wasn’t the most terrifying thing _in general_ that Saihara had ever encountered, but she was by far the most terrifying _person_. _And what’s up with that,_ his inner detective wondered even as he held his breath in fear of attracting her attention. _Harukawa-san’s talent is supposed to be taking care of children. But wouldn’t someone so intimidating scare kids away?_

Momota makes a sound like he’s been physically punched by her words – Saihara can’t help but wince in sympathy. Despite the girl’s cutting remarks, though, Momota recovers quickly. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” he says. “But that doesn’t matter right now. We have to—”

“Sorry? We’re all going to _die_ , and the best thing you can say is that you’re _sorry_?” she cuts him off again, looking even more murderous.

Momota makes another pained noise – _hang in there, Momota-kun_ , Saihara thinks. _If nothing else, it’ll be over soon_ – and soldiers on. “Just _listen_ , Harukawa—”

“I figured you were unreliable, but you went above and beyond my expectations.”

“WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP AND LET ME EXPLAIN, ALREADY?!”

Predictably, Momota explodes. More surprising, he _does_ manage to silence Harukawa in the process – though whether it’s because he startled her with the outburst or she’s taking the time to think of something particularly cutting, Saihara couldn’t say. Regardless, she’s still obviously pissed.

Momota pants and huffs, trying to calm down and catch his breath after shouting at the top of his lungs. Shirogane’s timid voice cuts through the silence in the meantime.

“It… should have started by now.”

_What?_

“Huh?” “What do you mean?”

Akamatsu and Chabashira voice the same confusion he’s feeling.

Shirogane responds, “The mass punishment. The time limit ended at least a minute ago. It should have started by now! What’s going on?”

The bespectacled girl looks genuinely scared and confused as she speaks; her words are innocuous – he, too, had been wondering why nothing had happened yet. Still, Saihara is suspicious. Shirogane had been in the library so close to the end of the time limit, and part of him still believed that had to mean something.

Admittedly, Amami had also been in the library – and to be fair, Saihara still found that guy a bit suspicious too. He hadn’t ruled out either of them as the possible mastermind; he just felt that of the two, Shirogane’s words and actions thus far were more meriting of scrutiny.

It wasn’t necessarily that Saihara didn’t believe coincidences happened, but Shirogane trying to murder the _same_ person with the _same_ weapon as Akamatsu – _that_ thought gave him pause for a moment. Akamatsu, who he’d chosen to believe in above all others, had tried to murder someone. She’d used his own plan to do it. To say it hurt was an understatement. Saihara couldn’t handle that right now; he pushed those painful thoughts to the back of his mind – at the _same_ time was just too many coincidences piling up to be mere chance.

What’s more, he still didn’t quite believe Shirogane had just snuck past them down to the basement. She was technically right – it wasn’t impossible that they’d missed her, distracted for one crucial moment, but it was just one more coincidence to the pile, making it that much harder to swallow.

Caught up in his thoughts, Saihara says nothing. Instead, Akamatsu jumps in. “Maybe… it was a bluff? This whole time, Monokuma was lying to us about the time limit, in which case nothing bad’ll happen? That could be the case, right?” The hopeful tone of her voice is impossible to miss. “Right, Saihara-kun?”

He can’t stop himself from flinching. _Please, don’t look at me. Don’t direct your attention at me. Not right now, when I can’t bring myself to look back at you_.

He doesn’t hate Akamatsu; he’s not sure it’s _possible_ for him to hate her. But now, in hindsight, he realizes he’s been admiring her and putting her on a pedestal when he doesn’t _really know_ her. He already knows her motives and reasons for her actions were pure – she’s still a good person – but… It’s just difficult to reconcile the girl he’d convinced himself she was with the girl she might _actually_ be, even if neither are necessarily bad, and he needs more time to do that.

Time he doesn’t have at the moment.

Saihara says nothing, and pretends he can’t _feel_ the hurt rolling off of her in waves. Instead, Amami is the one to respond. “Somehow, I doubt it,” he says, eyes trailing to the monitor in the room. “I definitely got the impression Monokuma wasn’t lying.”

And indeed, he’s right. As if the bear in question were waiting for someone to acknowledge him (which wouldn’t be out of character, really), all the monitors in the school blink back to life, projecting his smug face.

“ _Good evening, everyone! It is now ten p.m_.” The bear paused and gave a toothy smile. _“…Well, 10:02, to be precise. That means it is officially_ nighttime.”

“Who gives a shit about that?!” Momota shouted at the screen. “What’s gonna happen _now_ , dammit?!”

“Calm down, Momota-kun,” Saihara advised. _After all, there’s probably a reason Monokuma himself is giving the nighttime announcement rather than his children._

Oblivious to – or more likely fully aware and loving every second of it – the suffering of the people watching, Monokuma continued the broadcast. “ _Now that it’s nighttime, your two day time limit has ended, and that means it’s time for the main – or should I say_ maim _– event!_ ”

With the exception of Harukawa, everyone in the library flinched. Saihara balled his fists and looked away. _So this is it, after all. Monokuma just wanted to drag it out a few extra minutes and announce our impending slaughter_.

“ _What’s the main event, you might ask?_ Welllllllll…” the bear drags the word out as the tension builds, “… _nothing! That’s right, now that time’s run out, you bastards have absolutely nothing to worry about!_ ”

The tension snaps, and suddenly everyone’s talking at once. Saihara can barely pick apart all the voices.

“Wait, _what_?” Shirogane. “Seriously?!” Momota. “Uwahh, Tenko’s so relieved!” Chabashira, obviously. “We’re really okay?” Akamatsu. “Was the bear really bluffing, after all?” Harukawa. “…That’s not it. It can’t be this simple.” Amami.

“ _Of course,_ ” Monokuma’s voice rings out over the monitor, silencing the chatter, “ _that’s only because what everyone’s been waiting for has_ finally _happened! I’m definitely not the kind of bear that goes back on my word – it’s just no longer necessary!_ ”

 _Oh, no._ As quickly as it had gone, the dread comes crashing back into his gut. _Does that mean…_

“ _That’s right, people!_ Someone _bit the dust! The killing game has finally begun!_ ”

\---

_What? Someone’s… been killed?_

Along with everyone else, Akamatsu stands shocked and confused as Monokuma finishes his announcement. _“I suggest you guys split up and start searching! After all, the fun won’t really begin until the body is found! I’ve already waited two days, and I’m feeling impatient! If you take too long… Upupupu! Let’s just say you won’t like what happens.”_

The monitor blinks off, and a thick trepidation spreads over the library.

“There’s… actually been a murder?” Shirogane looks agitated and confused.

Amami is grim. “Sounds like it. I figured it would be something like that; there had to be a catch.”

Akamatsu is just reeling. The whole point of Saihara’s plan – of _her_ plan – had been to stop the mastermind. They’d been so sure the mastermind would show up in the library – but now someone’s been killed somewhere else?

 _What does it mean? Were we wrong, after all? Did the mastermind play us for fools and take advantage of our distraction to kill someone? Are Shirogane-san and Amami-kun both innocent? Did someone else who_ isn’t _the mastermind murder somebody?_

No, that couldn’t be it… Could it? Akamatsu desperately wanted to believe in her classmates, but she just didn’t know what to think. If anyone could help her – if anyone might have some answers for the mysteries piling up – it’d be Saihara, but…

_I can’t go begging Saihara-kun for the answers. Not right now, and maybe not ever again. After what I’ve done, does he even want anything to do with me? He won’t even look me in the eyes…_

“Ah, dammit!” Momota curses. “This is my fault. I figured I’d protect everybody by gathering up the people who seemed like they could fight to look after the ones that couldn’t, but… I shoulda just had everybody stay together. If we were all together, no one could’ve killed anyone else.”

Harukawa gives him an unimpressed, calculating look. “All that would’ve done is get us all killed by the Exisals instead.”

“We coulda fought ‘em!” he protests.

“Do you actually believe that?”

“W-well…” Momota wilts under the intensity of her stare for a brief moment, before rebounding, “…of course! I’m not saying it would’ve been easy, but if we worked together, we could’ve beaten them! Nobody had to die!”

_Momota-kun, I understand what you’re saying, and I agree on principle, but… Is it really possible to fight those things? Well, even if it isn’t I think I’d prefer to die fighting together with everyone than being forced to kill each other._

Harukawa scoffs and looks away. “You’re really full of yourself, if you think that. It’s a nice thought and all, but in reality we would’ve been destroyed. It’d be a miracle if _any_ of us survived a fight against those things.” The girl sighs, hesitating before she continues, “Isn’t it better this way? Yeah, someone’s dead, but this way everyone else will live, and whoever murdered that person just has to own up to it to get out. Then, they can get help for the rest of us.”

_That’s—_

“That’s—”

Momota seems about to echo her thoughts – they really _do_ think alike, apparently – when surprisingly, Saihara speaks up. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but can you two please stop fighting? I can understand both points of view, but right now there are more important things to discuss.”

Saihara’s words aren’t particularly loud or forceful, and yet there is an air of authority to his voice right now that Akamatsu hasn’t heard before. It complements the focused, determined look on his face – Saihara is in his element right now as a detective, and that sways everyone in the room to just quiet down and listen to him.

Akamatsu smiles. _Yeah, it’s like I thought. Saihara-kun looks really cool and reliable when he’s confident in himself._

The boy continues, oblivious to her unspoken praise. “Right now, somewhere around the school, one of our classmates is dead. I think we should do what Monokuma said and search for them; I don’t know what will happen if we waste any more time, but it’s probably best not to find out. I’m not sure what will happen when we find them, either, but we’ll deal with that with the time comes. For now, we’re alive, and that’s what matters.”

He pauses to take a breath, either unaware or willfully ignorant of the impressed looks from the others. “I think the best way to search would be to split into small groups of two or three people – I don’t think it’s a good idea for anyone to be alone right now, just in case. Everyone can cover a different part of the school, and you can pass along everything I just said to anyone you run into as you’re looking. If every group is looking in a different area, it shouldn’t take very long to find the body. Um, in the event that nobody finds it, we should all plan to meet back up somewhere to talk things out. As for where and when…”

Saihara trails off, looking uncertain, and Amami quickly picks the subject up for him. “How about the cafeteria? We’ve already been meeting there for breakfast and dinner, after all.” Everyone quickly voices an agreement and the boy continues, “And like you said, Saihara-kun, once we meet up with others and spread the message along, it shouldn’t take long for us all to search different parts of the school. We could plan to reconvene in… thirty minutes, probably?”

The detective nods. “That sounds alright. Thank you, Amami-kun.”

“It sounds good to me!” Akamatsu declares. Despite the situation, she feels somewhat hopeful for the first time in days; even while she’d hoped to kill the mastermind, she’d been weighed down by dread and guilt. The idea of taking a life didn’t sit well with her, even if she had believed it was necessary. Now, she may not know who the mastermind is, but there’s no longer a deadly time limit bearing down on them and she can face the future without bloodstained hands. “So, we’re splitting up now, right? Then—”

As fast as they’d formed, the words die in her throat. _Then Saihara-kun and I will investigate together_ , is what she’d almost said. And _of course_ it was – from the very first day, they’d been trusting and relying on each other, and doing everything together. _Of course_ Saihara was her instinctive first pick before her brain kicked in and reminded her that it wasn’t really an option at the moment – and she had no one to blame for that but herself.

All at once, the feelings she’s been trying desperately to hold back threaten to overwhelm her. _Not now… Dammit, not now! I don’t have time for this – and Saihara-kun can’t afford to be distracted by me, either!_

She has to get out _now_ , before she has a breakdown – _another_ one. But she can’t go alone. Who to take with her…? Akamatsu casts a quick, furtive glance around the room and comes to a decision instantly. Aside from Saihara, there was one other person who’d consistently been in her corner lately, supporting and reassuring her, and just generally on the same wavelength as her. Not to mention, _unlike_ Saihara, that person didn’t seem to be taking her actions as some sort of personal betrayal – _not that I don’t deserve it, if Saihara-kun can’t forgive me for this…_

Even better, he was in the room with them.

“Then, I’ll go with Momota-kun!” Akamatsu announces.

“Eh? Me?” The boy in question points to himself, almost comically surprised.

She nods. “Yup! Is that okay?”

Momota scratches the back of his neck. “Well, I don’t have a problem with it. I just figured…” he trails off, eyes going from her to Saihara.

Oh. He’d thought she’d go with Saihara. Of course. In fact, Momota seems about ready to pick up that train of thought and finish his sentence, and that’s – she can’t let that happen. She can’t help it if _she_ is distracted during the investigation, but at the very least she can do everything in her power not to disturb Saihara while he’s focused and working hard. If that means pairing up with someone else and getting about as far away as she can from him, so be it.

“Great, then let’s go!” Akamatsu cuts Momota off before he can speak, startling him. “We’ll check out the second floor of the school. Leave that to the two of us!”

That said, she grabs Momota by the wrist and drags him out of the room – fleeing the scene before any more doubts and concerns can pile up in her head.

\---

In the wake of Akamatsu and Momota’s… _swift_ exit – Shirogane would’ve snorted at just how _obvious_ the girl had been in basically running away, if she weren’t so aware of the suspicion still cast upon her – the five people remaining in the library stood awkwardly, unsure of how to proceed.

Harukawa, unflappable as she was, recovers first. “I’ll work with one of the others that got dragged to that idiot’s strategy meeting. They were all still in the game room ten minutes ago; at least one of them is probably still in the basement. We’ll look around down here.”

“Are you sure?” Saihara asks. “You could join someone in here, if you’d like.”

“No thanks.” That said, Harukawa promptly walks out.

That leaves only Saihara, Amami, Chabashira and herself in the library. Most likely, they’ll pair into two groups of two. Shirogane didn’t particularly like any of her options at the moment, but…

 _No way in hell am I working with the guy I tried and failed to kill or the detective who is suspicious of me_ already _so early into the game._

“Then, Chabashira-san, would you like to investigate with me?” Shirogane throws the question out quickly, before one of the guys can inevitably suggest they work with her so that they can keep an eye on her.

Chabashira looks relieved. _Right, she probably wasn’t looking forward to having to partner up with a “_ men _ace,” either…_ “Of course! Tenko will gladly work with—”

“Wait,” Saihara interrupts. _Damn._ “Chabashira-san, between Shirogane-san and Amami-kun, who do you find more suspicious and untrustworthy?”

“E-eh? Why are you asking a question like that, all of a sudden?”

“…Please, just answer. I’ll explain after that, I promise.”

 _Double damn._ Shirogane has a feeling she knows where this is going. Chabashira is, of course, clueless – and too damn honest (and biased), to boot. “W-well, if that’s the case, Tenko will do her best to answer. Between the two of them, Amami-san is undoubtedly the more suspicious one! He was the one originally sneaking into the library so close to the time limit, while Shirogane-san just followed him! Also, he’s the only one who doesn’t remember his talent—”

“Seriously, that again?” Amami mutters, annoyed.

“—and also his behavior is strange and unpleasant compared to Shirogane-san’s! He occasionally makes weird, scary faces and talks about things no one else knows about, like the Super High School Level Hunt, while Shirogane-san has been perfectly nice and normal this whole time,” Chabashira finishes.

 _That was… surprisingly reasonable, coming from her_. So reasonable, in fact, that Saihara actually looks somewhat thoughtful, considering her words against his own suspicions. It was pretty clear he’d been leaning towards Shirogane as the more suspicious one – clear to her, at least – but Chabashira’s words might make him reconsider. _Hopefully_.

As the mastermind, she was of course prepared to be suspected; the finale of the killing game was almost always about the survivors confronting the mastermind, after all. And in her plan for this game’s story, Saihara would be one of the ones to make it to the end – she knew she’d be dealing with his suspicion eventually. That said, it was _way_ too early for her to getting _this_ much focus and suspicion from him.

She’d caught a lucky break in someone getting killed and the game going on. Yeah, she wasn’t happy that she’d be as clueless as everyone else about who did it and why, but at least she had a _chance_ to get the game back on track now, if only Saihara would _back. Off._

As Saihara gathers his thoughts, Amami raises a protest. “She tried to kill me, and _I’m_ the one that’s suspicious? I was just defending myself! And I only came here because I thought somehow I could put a stop to the killing game.”

Saihara gives the boy a measuring look. “Amami-kun, what _was_ your plan, if you don’t mind me asking?”

The boy sighs and runs a hand over his face. “I don’t even know, really. I just... found the door and figured it was important. And I felt like I had to do _something_ , so I came here. That’s all, really.”

Again, Shirogane resists the urge to snort. That _something_ Amami had been meant to do was _die_. He’d found the door because she planned it that way; because of the Survivor Perk that she personally had set up for him. So that he could be lured into her trap _._ In terms of his true purpose in coming here, he’d screwed things up royally.

After a brief moment of pensive silence, Amami continues, “Whatever, it isn’t important right now. We’re wasting time. You have a problem with Chabashira-san and Shirogane-san working together, right?”

_And there it is._

Saihara looks surprised for a second – just like Shirogane, he was probably realizing it was a mistake to underestimate Amami – before admitting, “Uh, um, yeah, that’s correct. I think it’s better if you don’t work with Shirogane-san, Chabashira-san.”

To no one’s surprise, Chabashira protests. “Tenko won’t agree to that without good reason! I won’t let either of you bully Shirogane-san just because she made a mistake!”

“ _Mistake_ implies it was an accident…” _The only accident was failing to kill you_ , Shirogane thinks spitefully.

Saihara shakes his head. “That’s… kind of the reason why I’m saying this, Chabashira-san. I’m not trying to, uh, _bully_ Shirogane-san, but she, along with Amami-kun, is suspicious. I can’t say for sure that either of them is the mastermind, but it’s a possibility, and I think they should both be watched carefully for the time being. Chabashira-san, you’re too trusting and kind towards Shirogane-san when right now we _need_ to suspect her. That’s why I’d appreciate it if you investigate with Amami-kun and allow me to watch over Shirogane-san.”

Chabashira huffs. “So you want Tenko to risk her life checking around with this ultra-suspicious _men_ ace instead?!”

The detective raises his hands, trying to pacify her. “I wouldn’t ask this of anyone else, Chabashira-san. But you’re the Super High School Level Aikido Master; if you’re on guard, I figured you could easily fight him off if he tries anything unusual.”

That seems to calm her down. “Hmm, yes, that’s correct! If it came down to it, Tenko could definitely beat Amami-san. Very well! Tenko understands your reasoning, Saihara-san; even if I don’t like it, I’ll investigate with Amami-san. But!” she pauses to raise her hands threateningly, “If Tenko finds out later that Saihara-san mistreated Shirogane-san, she’ll definitely throw him with all her might!”

Saihara gulps before responding, “…Right.”

Enthusiastic now, Chabashira turns to her investigative partner. “Alright, Amami-san! We’re going to look around on the first floor. Tenko won’t hear any complaints, and if you even think of trying something, I will know, and I will throw you. Are we clear?”

“Uh, well—”

“Good, then let’s go!”

Amami sighs and mutters under his breath – something about, _are you investigating with me, or marching me off to prison?_ – but ultimately follows the girl out the door without complaint after stopping to pick up his broken Monopad.

And then there were two.

A thick silence envelops the pair of them before Saihara clears his throat. “It sounds like the school is pretty much covered; we should check around outside and in the dormitory.”

“…You’re cruel, Saihara-kun,” Shirogane says.

It’s all she _can_ say, without giving something away. She’s frustrated and seething about everything that went wrong, but with the threat of imminent death removed, she’s no longer panicking, at least.

He sighs. “In truth, I’d rather not doubt you _or_ Amami-kun. But it seems likely the mastermind is hiding among us, and your actions today are undeniably suspicious.”

“Why, because I tried to kill someone? I already explained that I just didn’t want to die!” she protests. “And it’s really a coincidence that I ended up using the same weapon as Akamatsu-san! I just picked the first thing I saw!”

She notes the sudden tenseness of his shoulders with satisfaction. “That’s—”

Shirogane cuts him off. “Hey, Akamatsu-san tried to kill someone too, you know? And I can tell you’re upset about it. Do you also suspect _her_ of being the mastermind now, too, or does she get special consideration just because you like her?”

Saihara flinches _violently_ , stumbles back as if she’d physically pushed him, and she can’t help the thrill of vindictive pleasure that shoots through her. He recovers after a long second and mumbles, “You’re unexpectedly cruel too, Shirogane-san.”

She doesn’t respond. Saihara sends her a hard look. “We don’t have time to argue right now; as it is we’ve only got about fifteen minutes to search for the body before we’re supposed to meet up in the cafeteria. But I’m not simply going to drop this matter, Shirogane-san. Once this is dealt with and I have time, I _will_ find out whether you lied about anything.”

That said, he glances around the room, gaze pausing a few times to stop and stare at something – _the cameras_ , she realizes with horror. She’d claimed she came down to the basement – and thus the library – the normal way; the _only_ way as far as everyone else knew. But if that was the case, one of those cameras should have a picture of her entering the library to verify that statement.

But she already knew very well none of them would have the evidence she needed. _Shit_. She needed to find a way to dispose of those cameras before Saihara could get the film developed. Of course, getting rid of the cameras would be suspicious in its own right, but it was a better alternative than letting him confirm she’d snuck into the library some other way.

Right now, however, her hands were tied. There was nothing she could do but play along and hope for the best.

That thought in mind, Shirogane fights down the rising panic and walks to the door, her head held high.

“Let’s go, then.”

\---

With the exception of two brief encounters with other people – first Yumeno and Angie in the basement, then Ouma on the first floor; both times she’d mostly let Momota stumble over an explanation, instead just internally crossing names off the list of who might be dead – Akamatsu doesn’t stop until she’s reached the second floor and gotten far, far away from the library and everyone in it in the process.

Momota huffs and puffs beside her, surprisingly winded from the relatively short journey from the basement to the second floor. In a way, Akamatsu is grateful for the distraction.

“Momota-kun, are you okay?” she asks.

He scoffs and straightens. “I’m fine, nothing to worry about. But man, Akamatsu, you sure were in a hurry to get up here.”

If it were anyone else, she’d think that was a subtle jab at her running away from Saihara, but it’s Momota, who’s been nothing if not honest and blunt so far, so she takes the comment at face value as she’s sure he means it.

“Aha, yeah, I guess I was kind of rushing us along, wasn’t I? Sorry about that,” she laughs awkwardly. “Still, I’m surprised. I figured it would take more than that to tire out an astronaut in training.”

“What’re you talking about?!” he blusters, “I wasn’t tired at all! I’m Momota Kaito, famous even in space, and it takes more than a few stairs to wear me down! Why, I could do a hundred push-ups followed by a hundred sit-ups without breaking a sweat right now… y-you know, if I wanted to,” he trails off, rubbing at the back of his neck.

He’s so obviously lying that she has to struggle not to laugh. “…Yeah, okay.”

“What’s with that face that says you don’t believe me?!”

Despite her best attempts, a giggle escapes. “It’s just…” she tries and fails to think of a way to pacify him, before giving up and admitting, “you’re a bad liar, Momota-kun.”

 _But in its own way, that’s kind of charming_ , she thinks, tuning out his ensuing protest. She feels a bit more like her usual, peppier self – confident and prepared to take on the challenges ahead. Heck, if she’d known Momota would influence her mood _this_ much she would’ve picked a different place to check, since she wanted to be as helpful as possible and there wasn’t much to the second floor – just her lab and two classrooms.

_This is just what I needed right now. Yeah, pairing up with Momota-kun was definitely a good idea._

\---

Time passes quickly.

Amami and Chabashira scour the first floor, and find several living people, but no dead body. The whole time, he’s on edge. He feels like he’s constantly waiting for – something, he doesn’t know what yet, but _something_ , and as if they have a mind of their own his eyes continue wandering to every monitor they pass.

Amami just _knows_ that if someone else had found the body by now there would have been an announcement – but there hasn’t been, so the body’s still undiscovered. Logically speaking, he has no idea why he believes this or why it would be true; regardless he feels in his bones that it is.

His broken Monopad sits heavy in his pants pocket the whole time they're investigating. The fact that it was broken during his little scuffle with Shirogane is just... the icing on the cake of a really,  _really_ bad day. He'd already practically memorized the contents, but now he'll never have the chance to show it to anyone, assuming he ever finds someone trustworthy enough in the first place. Not to mention he'd seen Saihara shoot the broken Monopad a curious glance as he'd picked it up. With everything else that happened in the library, it hadn't drawn the detective's attention, but now Amami's sure the other boy is wondering why he had it in the first place and how it got broken. He's not looking forward to the inevitable interrogation.

Eventually, their self-imposed thirty minute time limit has mostly run out, and he and Chabashira trudge to the cafeteria. Nearly everyone is there; as they’d encountered people, they’d explained the plan to them, and doubtlessly the others in the know had done the same.

Akamatsu and Momota are sitting together at the table, looking unhappy at their apparent failure to find anything – _Although Akamatsu-san does seem much more cheerful than when she left the library_ , Amami notes.

Despite the circumstances, Toujou is serving everyone drinks and, being the gentleman that he is, Gonta has volunteered to help.

Most everyone else is sitting around at the table or on the floor, either in silence or talking amongst themselves. Amami sees Yumeno, Angie, Hoshi, Ouma, Harukawa, and Shinguuji.

Saihara and Shirogane aren’t back yet, which is… slightly worrying. He’s not freaking out about it yet – there’s still a minute or two before time’s actually up, plus as suspicious as Shirogane is in his eyes now, he doubts she’d do anything to Saihara while multiple people knew they were alone together – but it would soothe his frayed nerves significantly if they’d get here soon.

More concerning is the fact that not one but _two_ people are unaccounted for: Kiibo and Iruma are both absent; a fact that the others will realize soon, if they haven’t already. Part of the reason meeting back up as a group if the body hadn’t been discovered was a good idea was because it would become obvious just by who was missing who had been murdered. With two people not here, they were facing the sudden, frightening possibility of a second dead body.

Thankfully, Saihara and Shirogane enter the cafeteria before he can further ponder this horrific turn of events. The detective’s gaze sweeps across the cafeteria – and he promptly pales.

_So he’s realized the biggest problem so quickly, huh?_

Saihara clears his throat and starts, “Is this everyone?”

Toujou nods. “It would seem so.”

“We’re missing Iruma-chan and Kii-baby, right?” Ouma’s the one to point it out, looking at his nails disinterestedly like he hadn’t just dropped a bomb. A startled murmur ripples through the room, as those that hadn’t picked up on the extra absences take note.

Saihara hesitates, then nods. “That would appear to be the case. When was the last time anyone saw either Iruma-san or Kiibo-kun?”

“Iruma-san was in the cafeteria around nine with myself, Toujou-san, and Shirogane-san,” Shinguuji volunteers. “I was having a late dinner, as was Shirogane-san. Iruma-san seemed to be messing with something. An invention, perhaps?”

Toujou speaks up, “I can confirm that. Around that same time, Shirogane-san left to go the bathroom, and…” she pauses as she realizes, “…she never came back. I was actually worried something had happened to you, Shirogane-san. Where did you go?”

Shirogane freezes up. “Eh? Uh…”

_How does it feel to end up in the hot seat so many times in one night, Shirogane-san?_

Of all people, Saihara comes to her aid. “That’s not important right now. Were you about to say more, Toujou-san?”

The maid gives a dainty curtsy as the attention in the room is redirected to her. “Yes. At about… 9:20, I believe, Iruma-san said she was going to her room and left. About fifteen minutes later, Shinguuji-kun left to go to his room, as well. I was the last one in the cafeteria, as I was cleaning up.”

“Did anyone see Iruma-san after 9:20?” Amami asks.

Silence. A few people shake their heads.

“What about Kiibo-kun?” Saihara asks. “When was the last time anyone saw him?”

No one has a clear answer.

“Maybe… around lunch?” Yumeno offers.

“I have not seen Kiibo at all today, and neither has God.”

“Gonta’s pretty sure he saw Kiibo-kun earlier today, but… when was that? A few hours ago at least…”

A few other people speak up with unhelpful tidbits. Amami fights the urge to place his head in his hands.

Saihara sighs. “So, in other words, we don’t know exactly when Kiibo-kun was last seen. He’s been missing for at least a few hours, though, and Iruma-san was last seen around 9:20.”

Ouma pipes up, “Hey, hey, so we’re assuming one of them is dead, right? Then, it’s definitely Iruma-chan!”

“What makes you so sure of that?” Akamatsu asks.

“Well, I mean, Kii-baby’s a robot. You can’t kill something that’s not really alive to begin with.”

_I’m pretty sure that would be considered more “robophobia,” Ouma-kun._

A small debate breaks out in response to Ouma’s claim, as the students argue over whether being a robot means you’re not a person and therefore not technically living, and just how rude Ouma’s comment was in general.

Saihara looks to be at a loss on how to proceed.

Amami sighs. _You really are too submissive and weak-willed, Saihara-kun. Your talent is going to be invaluable in this game, but not if you don’t step up. You were doing so well in the library earlier, too._

Harukawa is the one to break the stalemate. “Hey, instead of standing around arguing about who might be dead, shouldn’t we just keep looking until we find them? We’re on a time limit now, too, aren’t we? Monokuma’s not just going to wait until someone stumbles upon the body by chance.”

“That’s true!” Akamatsu responds. “But we’ve already searched everywhere, right? I mean, Momota-kun and I thoroughly checked the second floor.”

“Tenko and Amami-san looked all around the first floor, in every corner of every room!”

“Gonta searched the basement with Harukawa-san, and we didn’t find anything.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Harukawa says. “We _did_ find something odd in the library. Why were there cameras in there?”

Everyone involved with what went down in the library can’t help but react to that – some more subtly than others. Momota chokes over nothing; Akamatsu’s face immediately loses all of its cheer, turning downcast; Shirogane trembles slightly; Chabashira inhales sharply; Amami’s fists curl involuntarily.

Saihara winces and speaks over Momota’s loud coughing, “Um, that’s… not really important to the matter at hand. There is a reason, but it doesn’t relate to Iruma-san or Kiibo-kun’s disappearances at all.”

Ouma takes in the changes of the people in the room with renewed interest. “Hmm… Are some of you keeping secrets~?”

Amami hadn’t gotten the impression that Ouma was stupid by any means, but he’s quickly realizing he’d underestimated the smaller boy. _Still, as interesting as I’m sure you’d find the story to be, and as much as I’d like for everyone to know what Shirogane-san tried to do, I have to agree that this isn’t the time for this_.

He clears his throat. “Like Saihara-kun said, that doesn’t matter right now. We have to find Iruma-san and Kiibo-kun before Monokuma loses his patience. It sounds like the school has been covered – Saihara-kun, you and Shirogane-san searched outside. Did you miss anywhere?”

The detective nods. “As it happens, we were short on time. We checked everywhere outside, as well as Iruma-san’s lab and that building with the red door. We also checked the dorms; I knocked on every door just to be safe, but no one answered. The one place we didn’t check due to not having enough time is the boiler room and the space underneath it.”

“If the boiler room is the one place left to check, the body has to be there, right?” Yumeno comments.

“God agrees with Himiko, and of course I agree with God!”

“Not necessarily,” Shinguuji says. “Saihara-kun, you said you knocked on the doors in the dorm. Did you open them and check inside?”

“No, I didn’t. I figured they would all be locked, anyway.”

“Well, you could have asked Monokuma to unlock the doors for you,” Amami says.

The room freezes as everyone collectively turns their attention on him, and Amami realizes what he’s just said is… not quite right. _Why did I say that? Why did I even_ think _that? Hell, why, hearing it out loud and knowing how ridiculous it sounds, do I still believe it?_

“Why do you say that?” Saihara questions him.

_Great. I’m back to being “SHSL Suspicious Guy.” Well, in for a penny, in for a pound._

Amami takes a deep breath and tries to explain the reasoning he’s not entirely sure of himself. “This is all a game to Monokuma. He _wants_ us to find the body, right? So if there was a door we couldn’t open that might have the body behind it, he’d have to be willing to step in and help.”

Spoken aloud, it makes sense. It bothers him that he just _knew_ that, but it makes sense.

Saihara ponders this. “I suppose that's true...”

“Amami-kun is completely right!”

The one backing him up is none other than Monokuma – in person this time. The bear appears in the cafeteria from out of nowhere, startling everyone (and no doubt taking immense pleasure in doing so). Monokuma doesn’t give them any time to recover before continuing, “In cases where you need to investigate locked rooms, I will gladly open them for you, as Amami-kun guessed.” The bear turns and gives him a toothy smile. “Your intuition is very impressive! It’s almost like you’ve done this before!”

The words strike a chord in him; a vague sensation, like a memory, starts to rise to the surface—

But Monokuma’s still talking, still demanding attention, and he loses it. “But hey, how long are you guys gonna take?! First you bastards wait until the last possible second to commit a murder, and now you’re trying my patience _again_ by taking forever to find the body! Why, if this were a TV show, most of the audience would’ve given up watching by now in frustration! Too much build-up, not enough action!”

Shirogane gasps like he’s hit her. She looks incredibly anxious all of a sudden. “W-What are you saying?”

Monokuma gives an evil laugh. “I’m saying that I’m oh-so- _generously_ giving you guys just ten more minutes to hurry up and find the body.  If you don’t, you’re all getting punished by my adorable children in the Exisals!”

Saihara speaks up quickly, as the bear seems about to leave. “And the locked doors?”

Monokuma scoffs. “Yeah, I would’ve opened them for you, except they weren’t locked in the first place! You could’ve gone inside Kiibo-kun and Iruma-san’s rooms at any time, if only you’d checked!”

That said, the bear makes a swift exit and leaves the room in a state of panic.

“T-this isn’t so bad, right?” Chabashira tries, “We’ve only got two places to check, and ten minutes is more than enough time for that.”

“Someone could have moved the body,” Ouma points out.

Hoshi gives him a flat look. “When? Everyone was searching around the school; someone would’ve seen something.”

_In theory, yes, but it’s always best to be careful…_

Saihara shakes his head. “No, Ouma-kun’s right. We need to split up and search everywhere again, just in case. The priorities are the boiler room and the dorms, but we need to go over everywhere else again. Akamatsu-san—”

She tenses at her name and interrupts, “I’ll check out the boiler room with Momota-kun.” That said, she once again drags her chosen partner out of the room – this time not giving him or Saihara any time to react at all.

The detective seems disappointed – _Did he want to investigate with her this time? He was pretty upset with her earlier_ , Amami wonders – but he continues, “We need some people to search the school again.”

“I’ll go!” Shirogane volunteers quickly, and a handful of others follow her example.

Amami can’t help but feel this is bad. It’s not a good idea to let her do what she wants right now, and he can tell by the look on Saihara’s face that the other boy agrees, but—

There’s just _no time_ to argue with her, so they watch helplessly as she leaves the room with an almost triumphant smile on her face.

Saihara starts, “I’m going to investigate the dorms—”

“You wouldn’t need to if you’d bothered to try and open the doors earlier,” Ouma jabs.

The detective winces. “I’ll admit, that was my mistake. That’s _why_ I’m going to the dorms – I have to know if I could’ve found the victim sooner if only I hadn’t been pessimistic. Who else is going with me?”

A few more volunteer, Ouma among them much to Saihara’s chagrin, and soon Amami and Shinguuji are the only two left in the cafeteria.

The other boy speaks first. “Where do you plan on searching, Amami-kun?”

“I was thinking outside,” he replies.

Shinguuji cocks his head, interested. “Why? Do you honestly think you’ll find the victim there?”

Amami shakes his head. “Not really. But outside, I’ll be closer to both the boiler room and the dorms. If the body is in one of those places like I suspect, most likely someone will scream when they see it, and I’ll be able to hear it and come quickly.”

Shinguuji looks intrigued. “…Impressive logic. Would you mind if I accompany you?”

“Not at all.”

That said, the two hurry out. The timer keeps ticking down.

They have less than ten minutes to find either Iruma or Kiibo – or _both_ – dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over ten thousand words and we haven't even gotten to the first victim yet. Sorry, guys - I can't help but be wordy. That said, I'm planning on the next chapter to end right before the trial, so hey, plot will happen. Hopefully the slow pace doesn't bother you, because I imagine once the trial's over the story will really start taking a different direction that involves events happening pretty slowly. My primary genre is actually romance, so I'm gonna spend some time building various relationships in the less plot-heavy parts of cases. That said, you'll notice this part kind of teased Momota/Akamatsu. I haven't added it to the fic tags (kind of afraid it will turn people off, plus nothing seriously romantic will happen until AT LEAST the third case) yet, but... it's a thing. And so is Momota/Saihara and Saihara/Akamatsu/Momota. Oh, yeah. Assuming I stick with this fic long enough to actually get to that ultimately polyamorous relationship, I think it'll be the first fic with this specific pair. Anyway, tell me your thoughts, on this or anything else in the chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay in updating! I hit a few snags - finishing a semester of college, getting obsessed with a new game, being overcome with writer's block for the last ~2,000 words of this part... But here at long last is the continuation! I hope you guys enjoy this - apart from that last bit I really like this chapter; writing Momota's pov is FUN and writing the outsider/game manager parts are hard, but still interesting.

As soon as they reach the boiler room, Momota tears his arm away from Akamatsu’s grasp.

“Alright, that’s enough!” he gasps, trying desperately to catch his breath after their sprint here, “That’s the last time I let you drag me around, Akamatsu!”

_Why... why am I so out of breath? This should be nothing to me._

She turns away, ashamed. “I-I’m sorry, Momota-kun. I was just—”

“Running away from Saihara and everybody else?”

Surprised, she looks at him. “You… noticed?”

He snorts and works on controlling his breathing. His heart still hasn’t slowed down. “It’s hard not to when you ran like hell itself was on your heels. I mean, come on, I know I’m not the smartest guy out of all of us, but I’m not _stupid_ , either.”

He’d noticed the _first_ time around – he just hadn’t said anything then. Akamatsu was brave for the most part; he knew this, and he’d also noted how often she voiced his own thoughts nearly verbatim. She had a similar thought process to his, which was why he was confident in leaving her to sort out her issues. He’d figured she’d be able to face her mistakes and problems head-on, after a little time away to lick her wounds.

And indeed, despite their failure to find anything she’d been _much_ more cheerful during and after their search of the second floor, even if it did come slightly at his expense. Compared to how tearful and despairing she’d been in the library, it was a vast improvement.

But the moment Harukawa had mentioned the cameras and unknowingly reminded Akamatsu of what she’d done, the girl just… _broke_. It was like the life and energy drained out of her, as all the confidence and optimism she’d built back up vanished to be replaced by that… pale facsimile – that unsatisfying and just incorrect _copy_ of the girl he’d come to know – that he’d seen in the library. Momota had been so shocked by the sudden transformation that, once he stopped hacking his lungs out, he’d mostly just sat quietly and watched her the rest of the time they were in the cafeteria, worried about what she might say or do while she was so down.

So maybe he’d overestimated her emotional strength. _Maybe all this time she’s been putting on a strong face while internally losing it. That’s understandable; hell, I'm no different - it's not like this killing game doesn't affect me too, but I just gotta power through it!_

Maybe Akamatsu _did_ need some support and a push in the right direction. He’d already been planning on taking Saihara under his wing – how could he not, after seeing how meek and pitiful the boy was while knowing how capable he _could_ be? – so what was the harm in doing the same with Akamatsu?

Speaking of the girl, she’s back to staring at her feet, mouth trembling from the force of withheld emotions. “I’m… sorry to have dragged you into this,” she says, “both figuratively and, well, physically.”

Oh, boy. Now comes the hard part. He’s never been good at comforting crying girls. No tears have fallen yet, but if he doesn’t pick his words carefully, it’s an inevitability.

_…Eh, it’s best to be honest._

“Look, I don’t mind, and I’m not gonna hold it against you or anything, it’s just this isn’t healthy,” he says bluntly. _Not for you and Saihara emotionally, and apparently not for me physically. Yeah... getting dragged around like that so unexpectedly would have anyone feeling weaker._ “You messed up and hurt someone, and you gotta own up to that. You did a bad thing, but you had a good reason – hell, I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same in your position – and I’m sure Saihara will forgive you if you just talk to him. Nothing’ll get solved if you keep running from the problem.”

Miraculously, she’s not crying yet. “I don’t want to talk about this,” she mutters.

“You’ll probably feel better if you do, though.”

“Momota-kun, we don’t have _time_ for this,” she grinds out, looking wildly around the room. “We’re supposed to be searching for a body, and—”

“That can wait for two minutes. This won’t take long—”

“I said I _don’t want to_ —”

“You can’t be scared to face the truth, Akamatsu!” he snaps.

She flinches like he’s hit her, and then… _Oh, no. Here come the tears. Dammit. Could I have avoided this?_

“What if the _truth_ is that Saihara-kun might never treat me the same way again? Even if he _does_ forgive me – which he probably will, because that’s the kind of person he is – he’ll know that I’m not who he thought I was; you’ll _all_ know! I’ll… know…”

The girl trails off, tears streaming down her face, and Momota is. Confused. He’d thought she was so upset because her actions had driven a wedge between her and Saihara, but… maybe that’s not the case.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“I’d never thought of murdering someone before ending up here, you know?” is her ambiguous response. Momota waits for a moment and she continues, “I didn’t think I was that kind of person. But every hour of every day we’ve been here has been _torture_. I’ve been trying to stay calm, but I’m _freaking out_. I want to get to know everybody and be friends, but I’m also paranoid and don’t know who to trust! The one spot of light in all this was Saihara-kun. He may be timid and unsure of himself, but he’s dependable, and I believed in him… and he believed in me.”

_So this_ is _about Saihara?_

On a roll now, Akamatsu keeps ranting. “So of course, when he told me his suspicions about the library and the hidden door, I believed him, and I also believed his trap would work – but it wasn’t _enough_. I wanted to be _absolutely sure_ the killing game was over, and possibly catching the mastermind wasn’t enough. No, instead my mind jumped to murder! Something like that… I hadn’t even known I was capable of it, but before I realized it I was plotting it out and using Saihara-kun’s own trap and his trust in me to set it up.”

_Is this or is this_ not _about Saihara?!_

“And of course I’m glad that my trap failed, but ultimately that’s not the part that matters. No, what _matters_ is that I set it up in the first place! What matters is that in doing so, I became someone I don’t recognize – this isn’t the kind of person that _I_ thought that I was, never mind what everyone else thinks – and what’s worse, I hurt the one person who I trusted fully and who trusted me in the process.”

All that said, Akamatsu stops, gasping for air. Momota takes a minute to process her speech. Finally, he says, “Well, now that you’ve acknowledged the truth, you can start facing it.”

She gapes at him. “What? How was that not—”

“More than just owning up to everything, you’ve gotta accept it. Embrace it, learn to live with it, and move on,” Momota answers, cutting her off.

Akamatsu slumps. “How am I supposed to live with this?”

“Well you can start by accepting it’s not as bad as you think.”

“But—”

“I’m not saying murder isn’t, like, a big deal – it is! But you had probably the best possible motive for it; you wanted to kill one person to put a stop to this killing game and save everyone. Nobody’s gonna hate you for that, and I’d bet most people would’ve done exactly what you did if they were in your shoes – I know I would!”

A little bit of light has returned to her eyes, if he’s not mistaken. “You would have?”

“Hell yeah! I want to do anything I can that might save somebody, you know?” _I've still got a lot to live for - I'm not dying until I go to space. But still, I'd risk my life in a heartbeat if it was to save everyone else. That's the hero's way_ _._ “That’s why I was prepared to go down fighting the Exisals – I was hoping that if some of us fought back, at least a few others might make it out.”

Akamatsu finally, _finally_ smiles. “Thank you, Momota-kun. I actually feel a bit better.”

He grins back at her. “No problem! But hey, make sure to talk things out with Saihara soon, yeah?”

“Okay, I got it. But if you think _I_ had trouble facing the truth…”

Abruptly, Momota finds himself speaking without thinking. “Hey, should we hug?”

There’s a pregnant pause. Whatever moment they’d been having, he’d just accidentally ruined.

She stares at him, unimpressed. “Seriously, what’s with you and asking to hug me?”

_Well, this is awkward_. Unlike previous times, he hadn’t meant to say that; it had just slipped out. God, where is his brain-to-mouth filter?

He hastens to explain, cheeks red. “Well, usually, I say it ‘cos we’re on the same wavelength. Like, you keep saying what I’m thinking just before I do, so I feel like I should hug you since we’re so in sync or something. This time… I-I dunno, I guess it’s to comfort you? I don’t know why I said it, it just… feels right.”

He honestly can’t remember the last time he’s been this embarrassed. Spoken aloud, his reasoning makes no sense and he sounds like a complete idiot. Seriously, what _was_ he thinking, not just now but every other time he tried to hug her? God, she probably thinks he’s coming on to her.

She watches him with an unreadable expression for a moment before saying, “You know what? Sure.”

Momota gapes at her. “Seriously?!”

Akamatsu shrugs before saying, “Yeah. Why not? But this is a one-time thing, okay?”

He nods quickly and tries to ignore his rapidly accelerating heartbeat. “Yeah, of course!”

He opens his arms – _god, this is awkward_ – and she steps into them – _so fucking awkward_ –and he wraps his arms around her shoulders – _strangest freaking hug in my entire life_ – and her hands curl tentatively against his back – _literally what is even_ happening _right now_ – and then they just kind of. Stand there. Hugging.

Despite being by far the weirdest, most unnatural hug he’s ever gotten, it’s not bad. Akamatsu is, after all, warm and pretty, and practically the perfect height to lean her head on his shoulder, just under his chin. This would probably be a _fucking fantastic_ hug, if only it weren’t so stilted and awkward. As it is, it’s still surprisingly decent.

…At least until he glances down the manhole by his feet and sees a body on the floor below.

\---

Saihara, Ouma, Angie, Yumeno, and Chabashira make their way to their temporary living quarters. Once inside, they stop briefly.

“Should we open one at a time, or both at once?” Saihara asks.

The odds are pretty high that at least _one_ of the missing two is in their room, but he can’t help but dread the possibility that both are dead – and if that’s the case, would it be better to try and soften the blow by opening just one first and getting the initial shock and horror out of the way before revealing a second body, or should they just open both at once and get it all over with quicker, like ripping off a Band-Aid?

“Stop stalling. We might as well open them both, right? We’ve got enough people for it,” Ouma says.

Angie nods enthusiastically. “I agree with Kokichi. Let’s just do it already.”

Yumeno and Chabashira voice their consent. The decision is made.

Angie goes to stand in front of Iruma’s door, so Saihara takes a place in front of Kiibo’s. The other three stand in the middle, glancing between the two doors with interest. Saihara steels himself. “We’ll open them together on the count of three. One… two…”

“Three!” Angie shouts, and flings Iruma’s door open. Saihara fumbles with the handle, and opens Kiibo’s door a split second behind her.

A moment passes, and Yumeno drawls, “Doesn’t look like there’s anything in there…”

“Yeah, God says Miu’s room is completely empty,” Angie responds.

Saihara dearly wishes he could say the same, but—

The Super High School Level Robot, Kiibo, lies slumped against the wall, not moving.

He doesn’t look _dead_ in the human sense – not really. There’s no blood, his body isn’t twisted at some unnatural angle; there’s nothing about him or his room that indicates a struggle. Still, there’s no denying this isn’t the same, well, _lively_ person they’d come to know.

He’s just… so still. So silent.

“Oh? Is Kii-baby dead, after all?” Despite the harshness of his voice, Ouma’s voice has a strange tenor to it – the boy clearly hadn’t expected this.

Hearing this, the girls take notice and turn to look. Surprisingly, no one screams.

The moment passes, and… nothing happens. Monokuma doesn’t pop up again out of nowhere to congratulate them like Saihara had half expected him to.

It’s so unusual that Saihara actually manages to pull himself back together enough to wonder—

“Is he… actually dead?”

Chabashira is appalled. “Tenko doesn’t believe this! Are you actually buying into Ouma-san’s words, Saihara-san? It’s true that Kiibo-san was a robot, but he was also undeniably a person! That means… it’s also undeniably true that he’s dead now…”

He shakes his head, eyes focusing on Kiibo’s body with renewed vigor. “No, that’s not what I meant. What if he only _looks_ dead? I mean, maybe he’s in sleep mode, or something.”

Angie waltzes into Kiibo’s room and plops down beside the robot for a closer look. “Hmm, yeah, now that Shuuichi mentions it, there’s something totally strange about all this. God is telling me that we shouldn’t give up on Kiibo just yet.”

After a moment of hesitation, Yumeno follows her lead, going to sit on the robot’s other side. The two girls start poking and prodding the prone figure.

“Um, what are you doing?” Saihara asks.

“Well, if Kiibo _is_ just sleeping, then, one of these buttons should wake him up, right?” Angie responds. “But none of them are doing anything.” She jabs repeatedly at a couple different buttons to illustrate her point.

Yumeno gives her verdict: “If he had magic power, I’d say he was completely out of mana.”

There’s a pause before Chabashira says, “Oh, Tenko understands! Yumeno-san is saying Kiibo-san is out of power! That was a truly wonderful analogy, Yumeno-san!”

The magician – sorry, _mage_ – mumbles her thanks, and Ouma, skeptical, chimes in, “Don’t we usually refer to electronics with no power as _dead_?”

“Yeah, but mana can be restored,” Yumeno says. Her face is, for lack of a better word, pouty.

Saihara glances at Chabashira, who thankfully translates once more. “If Kiibo-san is out of power, we just need to recharge him somehow!”

Angie claps her hands together and closes her eyes, as if she’s about to pray. “God has spoken. He’s saying that we can totally save Kiibo.”

“Yeah, but how are we supposed to recharge him?” Saihara asks, finally wandering closer to lean over Kiibo’s body and search him. “The buttons are one thing, but do you see some way to connect him to a power source?”

On a whim, he reaches out to tilt the robot’s head forward. _It’s a wild guess, but maybe on the back of his neck…_

Unfortunately, there’s no plug-in or USB port or anything similar. There is, however, another button. Between Kiibo’s hair and his collar, Saihara would’ve never noticed it under normal circumstances.

“Ooh, nice find, Shuuichi!” Angie crows, already reaching a finger out with the intent of pressing it.

He covers it with his hand. “Just stop, please. We’ve already established the buttons don’t do anything while he’s like this.”

Angie retracts her hand, sulking.

“You know, your pessimism sure is doing a lot of damage tonight, Saihara-chan!” Ouma’s voice cuts through the room, sharp and pointed, digging into him like an actual knife. “I mean, first you don’t bother trying to open the doors, plus you were more worried about being late to the cafeteria than checking out the boiler room, and now this? For all you know, this could be the button that actually _does_ something!”

Saihara takes a few deep, steadying breaths. It’s been a long night, and it’s nowhere near over. He’s not going to snap at Ouma – especially when the boy is _right_ , why does he keep falling into the same pit every time? – and give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten to him.

_Even if it seems useless or pointless, I have to stop thinking that way, or I’ll never accomplish anything._

“Alright, I got it,” Saihara says, voice deliberately bland. “I’ll try it.” He resists the urge to add, _will that satisfy you?_ He can already imagine Ouma’s smug response.

Still leaning over Kiibo’s body, Saihara tentatively presses the well-hidden button. Even as he’s doing it, part of him is saying nothing will happen, but another part is answering, _you never know_. And indeed—

Kiibo’s awake in an instant, shooting up with a shout – and he promptly crashes heads with Saihara, who falls to the floor from the force of the unexpected blow.

There’s a lot of movement and talking at once but, dizzy as he is, Saihara can’t concentrate enough to piece it together. Kiibo had been saying something literally the moment he woke up, the detective thinks. What was it…?

_It sounded like… “Stop”?_

He’s not sure how much time passes before he snaps out of the daze and regains focus – probably at least a minute or two, judging by the different positions of the people around him.

Kiibo looks antsy; as if he’s a moment away from running out the door, if only Ouma and Chabashira weren’t blocking it. His mouth is moving – fast. He’s talking a mile a minute, panicked about something. Saihara struggles to concentrate, tuning into the robot’s words midway.

“…wasted too much time already! Please, I have to find Iruma-san immediately! I need to stop her!”

_Eh?_

“Kiibo-kun, you know what happened to Iruma-san?” The words slip out of his mouth unbidden. Unfocused as he is, he speaks without thinking, only to realize belatedly—

_Oh, right. If Kiibo-kun is alive and well, then that means the dead person must be…_

Kiibo turns to him, frantic. “What do you mean, Saihara-kun? What’s happened? Where is Iruma-san? Why—” he stops abruptly, expression verging on hysterical as he comes to a realization. If he were a flesh-and-blood person, Saihara imagines he would’ve gone pale.

After a long moment, Kiibo continues, voice suddenly shaky. “Why has the music stopped? What time is it?”

Before Saihara can even begin to form a response, a sound rings out.

***Ding dong, ding dong***

All the monitors in the vicinity blink to life, projecting Monokuma’s face. _“A body has been discovered! Everyone, please hurry to the scene of the crime, the boiler room!”_

\---

_A few minutes earlier…_

“Should we be worried about that?”

“About what?”

“ _That_.” The first speaker gestures pointedly at the screen showing Akamatsu and Momota awkwardly embracing. “Those two are getting awfully _chummy_.”

“Relax,” another voice chimes in. “Saihara and Akamatsu’s instant bond is a huge part of Shirogane’s story; they’re practically hardwired to be drawn to each other over anyone else. And being overly friendly is part of Momota’s character. It’s fine.”

The first person argues, “Yeah, but Shirogane’s plan also involved Akamatsu dying after the first trial – things are already going way off the rails, and it’s not like the mastermind’s plans are always carried out, anyway. Since we stick to planting subtle suggestions and influence rather than full-out control, people _have_ deviated from the script from time to time.”

“Shirogane has been impressively cool under pressure so far,” another person says. “Not perfect, but she’s at least managed to come up with reasonable explanations for her actions and not incriminate herself any further. Let’s give her a chance to change the story in light of the circumstances and try to get things back on track before we get too worked up over a simple hug, shall we?”

A sigh. The first voice mutters, “I’m just saying this is the kind of scene that would mislead the audience, is all.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing the audience won’t see it,” comes the snide reply.

Kiibo getting powered down –and so close to the end of the time limit, too – had been a big problem, but not one the team wasn’t prepared to deal with. It wasn’t the first time the chosen focus character was incapacitated, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Hey, at least this time was temporary – better essentially unconscious than _dead_.

That didn’t stop the audience from complaining when they could no longer see things through the eyes of their “surrogate”, but that was the nature of television; you can’t satisfy everyone.

The staff had kicked the viewers off Kiibo’s – now inactive – live feed and started picking and choosing what to show them from their own cameras, a few minutes behind what was happening in real time. The first ten minutes had been the worst, as for lack of better options, they’d shown the audience the camera in Kiibo’s room – a small eternity of watching a prone, unmoving form as time ticked down.

They couldn’t show them the scene in the library; as compelling as it would’ve been, it was agreed the audience was better off not knowing about it at all rather than being thrust into it halfway through and left confused. They couldn’t show the murder happening – it was company policy not to unless the event actually involved the “protagonist” or "audience surrogate." Trials were much more entertaining when the audience was guessing and figuring out the mystery alongside the cast.

They had no reason to show any of the other students scattered about, as none of them were doing anything interesting – and showing them but _not_ others would leave the audience suspicious of those left out.

Once Monokuma announced someone had been killed, they had more freedom, and the cameras switched between the various people searching the school and its surroundings – taking care not to focus too long on anyone who’d been part of what went down in the library as a precaution.

Once the cast reconvened in the cafeteria, the camera could be focused on all of them. Unfortunately, some hints and references to the events in the library were dropped during the conversation – and the staff had _already_ received some intrigued and confused calls about it. If the matter didn’t get brought up and talked about during the trial, they’d have no choice but to run a recap of it all after the students went to bed.

It was an easy choice to stay with Saihara’s group once a split had been made. They would be the ones to find Kiibo, the star of the show (at least to the audience; perhaps he wasn't the protagonist of the story, but he was still the vessel through which the audience could not only watch but also _interact_ with the game), and hopefully turn him back on. The team skipped the trek over to the dorm and the conversation preceding opening the doors to get the audience back into what was happening live in anticipation of that.

Thankfully, Saihara found the button, and the staff had the audience switched back over to Kiibo’s view the moment he powered up.

On the monitors, Momota _finally_ notices the body that is virtually under his nose. Miraculously, he doesn’t scream. He _does_ , however, tense up and let out a strangled squeak.

Akamatsu pulls away from him to ask, “ _What’s wrong?_ ”

He points a shaking finger at the manhole. “ _I-Is that what I think it is?_ ”

She follows his gazes and gasps.

“Oh, thank _Christ_ , they finally found it,” someone complains. “ _This won’t take long_ , my ass. Tell me we can play the body discovery announcement now.”

“Not yet,” another replies. “Not counting the killer, that’s only two people to see it. We need three.”

“Goddammit.”

Momota and Akamatsu stare down the manhole in horror for a long moment. The girl recovers first, and tells him to run and get the others, which after a moment of hesitation, he does.

“Shinguuji and Amami are nearby; we’ll be able to continue soon.”

Once Momota runs out the door, Akamatsu puts on a determined face and climbs down the ladder for a closer look at the body.

Iruma Miu’s body.

“You know, I just realized our fanservice character is dead,” someone says.

“What’s your point?” another responds. “They almost always die.”

“Well, yeah, but not until like the third or fourth case. You know, once they’ve actually done their job?”

Another voice chimes in, “To be fair, she may not have had long, but she still gave the audience one hell of a sendoff.”

“And you think that’ll be enough to satisfy them for the duration of the game? They’re insatiable, you know that,” the first voice says.

“Eh, if it comes down to it, we could always force Shirogane into a more fanservice-y role as punishment for her screw-ups,” replies the second person. “Or hey, Akamatsu is pretty good looking, too. Since she’s not dying anymore, why not flaunt her?”

“Speaking of Shirogane, what is she doing?”

The voice draws everyone’s attention to a certain screen. On it, Shirogane can be seen entering the library from one of the doors in the basement. She looks nervous, and she has a shot put ball on prominent display in her hands.

The girl takes a few steps inside – and then promptly turns around and leaves with a smile on her face, shooting a pointed glance at Saihara’s hidden cameras on her way out.

“She had the perfect opportunity to steal them, or at least destroy them. What is she thinking?”

“Clever girl,” someone says. “There’s no need to get rid of evidence and look suspicious in the process when she can give Saihara the evidence she needs to prove her claims.”

“But the photos will develop and come out in the order they were taken,” another voice says. “Won’t it be obvious this was taken after the fact?”

“Not if, say, the Monokuma Cubs were the ones to _helpfully_ develop the photos for Saihara, and there was a little accident. Pictures scattered across the floor, and gathered back up out of order…”

“Sir? Are you suggesting…”

“I’m saying that her failures thus far haven’t necessarily been her fault, and she’s been performing admirably. We can throw her a bone, just this once. After all, she can’t be blamed for underestimating Amami; we all did.” The man’s eyes move across screens to rest on Amami and Shinguuji hurrying to the boiler room. “He’s a bigger threat than any of us realized, and once this case is over our priority is getting rid of him.”

The two boys burst inside the room, and stop to look around in confusion.

“ _Where is Akamatsu-san?_ ” Shinguuji wonders. “ _According to Momota-kun, she should be in here._ ”

Amami calls out, “ _Akamatsu-san! Are you here?_ ”

Her voice echoes up from below. “ _I’m down here! I thought… it’s not that big a fall, so maybe—but it’s no good. She’s dead._ ”

Amami and Shinguuji wander over to the manhole and peer down. Akamatsu straightens up from where she’d been leaning over something to look up at them, revealing the limp and lifeless body of their classmate in her lap.

“ _Iruma-san is dead_.”

“Annnnnd, cue the body discovery announcement!”

\---

He knew that manhole was bad news.

That’s all Amami can think as he grimly stares down at Akamatsu, holding the unmoving form of the Super High School Level Inventor. More and more people show up, one after another – and part of him feels vindicated because he’d _known_ there would be an announcement somehow to bring them all to the crime scene, but now isn’t the time for that.

Mostly, he’s oblivious to the growing crowd. At least until Kiibo arrives.

The robot runs in seconds before the group that had gone to the dorms, causing a stir amongst the other students who hadn’t yet known his fate. “Who is it?!” Kiibo cries, looking wildly around the room – taking stock of the survivors, it seems. “Who’s dead? Who did she—” He breaks off suddenly, seemingly overwhelmed by emotion.

_“She?” What was he about to say?_

Regardless, it’s clearly important to Kiibo to know immediately who the victim was. Amami can only assume wherever he was found there hadn’t been time to update him on the situation, so he takes it upon himself. “Look down there, Kiibo-kun,” he says, trying to affect a gentle tone. He points towards the manhole and continues, “It’s Iruma-san, but be warned – it’s not pretty.”

Of all things, Kiibo seems _exasperated_ as he walks to the manhole. “Yes, I _know_ what Iruma-san did! And of course it’s bad! I’m asking who she did it—”

He looks down midsentence and just— _stops_. Amami can imagine the gears that had been turning in the robot’s head suddenly shifting out of place and getting jammed. Like an afterthought, the last word slips out of his mouth. “—to.”

Amami tries to parse this while Kiibo stares uncomprehending at Iruma’s body. _So Iruma-san did something? What? It almost sounded as if Kiibo thought_ she _had murdered someone rather than the other way around…_

The last few stragglers arrive – Shirogane among them, he notes suspiciously – as Kiibo mumbles, “I don’t understand.”

“Well, I do!”

The unwelcome response comes from Monokuma, of course. As per usual, the bear pops up out of nowhere before starting his rambling. “I understand that you guys sure like to take your time with everything! You went down to the wire with the first time limit, and almost as close this time, too! Patience may be a virtue, but it’s also boring and exhausting. If you bastards had killed someone hours ago, you could be sleeping in bed by now, you know?”

As if reminded of the late hour, a few people yawn. Looking practically dead on her feet, Yumeno mutters, “Let’s hurry up and get this over with. What happens now?”

Akamatsu climbs up the ladder to join everyone else in the boiler room, and Monokuma continues, “Well, like I said before, first come, first serve! This was the first murder of the killing game, so the culprit gets to graduate without having to go through a trial as a bonus!”

“Hi-kuma!”

With an irritatingly cheerful shout, five more nuisances appear.

Monosuke is the first to speak. “Well, it’s about time! I was beginnin’ ta think this killing game would never get goin’!”

“ _Hell yeah_! Finally something interesting happened!” Monokid shouts.

Monofunny keeps her gaze fixed away from the manhole. “Oh, this is awful. Murder is just so bloody and violent, I can’t stand it. I can’t even bear to look at Iruma-san’s body or I might— _ulp_.” She makes a sound as if she’s choking something down.

“Don’t look, Monofunny!” Monotaro says. “If you see it, you’re gonna puke, and nobody wants to see that!”

Monodam is silent.

_These bears are seriously annoying_ , Amami thinks.

Monokuma loudly clears his throat, effectively silencing his children. “Well, anyway, as I was saying, our lucky first killer gets to graduate. Let’s all give that person a round of applause!”

The Cubs all start clapping, and, sans Monodam, speak in chorus, “Congratulations! You graduated!”

The students are silent. No one makes a move to come forward.

The applause from the bears dies off as they slowly realize this. Monotaro is the last one to stop. “Hey, why’d everybody stop?”

“Uh, well, no one is coming forward,” Monofunny points out.

“Huh? Oh, you’re right! What’s up with that?” the red bear wonders.

Monosuke says, “Hey, culprit! You gotta own up to your crime if you want the prize, you know?”

Still, no one says anything. Glancing around, Amami sees the students looking amongst themselves in confusion. It seems whoever killed Iruma isn’t going to confess and claim the bonus.

_I have a bad feeling about this_.

Monofunny turns to Monokuma for assistance. “What now? What does this mean, Daddy?”

Monokuma is quiet for a moment, but slowly his signature toothy grin spreads across his face. “Well, if the culprit won’t come forward, that can only mean they want a class trial! Am I right, or am I right?”

No one objects, though most everyone looks horrified. Amami desperately wishes his bad feelings and intuition would be wrong, just once.

“Well then!” the bear continues. “I guess that changes things. Sorry, everyone, I know you’re all tired, but you can’t rest just yet! It’s time for an investigation! Then, after a certain amount of time has passed, I’ll call everybody for the class trial, okay?”

“No, it’s not okay!” Akamatsu bursts out. “Why – What’s going on? It’s bad enough there’s been a murder, but why would the killer not take advantage of the chance to get out of here? Why would they want a class trial, prolonging this and putting everyone’s lives at risk?! Who would do something like that?!”

“Hmm. That sounds like something to figure out during the trial,” is Monokuma’s uncaring response. “And to help you out with that, here!” He pulls a thin electronic device out from… somewhere, and promptly shoves it into Akamatsu’s hands. “It’s the Monokuma File!”

“Er, sorry, Gonta has never heard of a Monokuma File before. What is it?”

_I’m pretty sure_ none _of us have heard of something so ridiculous before, Gonta-kun_. The thought rings a little false somehow, but before he or anyone else can point out that Gonta isn’t the only one in the dark here, Monokuma is moving on.

“It’s just a little something I made up to help you kids solve the case, since I’m such a nice guy!” the bear says. “The Monokuma File contains important information relating to the murder, like cause and time of death. Of course, it doesn’t tell you _who_ killed Iruma-san; I don’t want to make this too easy!”

“That’s surprisingly generous of you,” Harukawa notes.

Monokuma nods and replies, “Of course! I want this to be a fair trial, after all. Anyway, good luck investigating!”

That said, he disappears. The Cubs hesitate.

“Should we follow him?” Monotaro asks.

“Of course we should follow him; s’not like there’s anything for us ta do around here,” Monosuke says.

“I agree. Plus I’d feel better getting away from the body,” responds Monofunny.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” Monokid says. “That means you, too, Monodam! You’re useless and in the way here!” He pounds the silent and unmoving Monodam on the back, and after getting no response, says, “Whatever. Let’s leave.”

“Bye-kuma!”

The five nuisances disappear after their father – one of them just a few seconds behind the rest.

_Thank god, the clowns are gone_.

The room is silent. No one knows how to proceed.

“So…” Shirogane starts, “…what do we do now?”

She appears to be asking Saihara – naturally, he _is_ a detective and the obvious person to look to when it comes to investigating a murder, after all – but the boy is too wrapped up in his thoughts to answer, so Amami responds instead.

“We start investigating. I don’t know how much time Monokuma is going to give us, but if we can’t find enough evidence to figure out who did this, then we’re all doomed.”

“I’m too tired for this,” Yumeno complains. She looks the same as always, but he detects a slight waver in her voice – a hint of repressed panic.

_Even she’s freaking out about this, huh? But why — no. Fear is the_ natural _response in a situation like this, isn’t it? Instead of wondering why everyone else is so anxious, the question I_ should _be asking is… how am I so calm?_

Amami tries to sound soothing when he says, “Sorry, Yumeno-san, but I think it will be at least a few more hours before any of us can get to sleep. This is a little more important, after all. But don’t worry – I’m sure if we all work together we can solve the case, _right, Saihara-kun_?”

_Snap out of it, already._

“Eh?” His pointed tone succeeds in pulling the detective out of his head. Saihara stares at him uncomprehendingly for a moment, frozen like a deer in headlights.

“Shouldn’t we start looking for clues?” Amami prods him.

Catching on, the other boy nods. “Er, yes, we probably shouldn’t waste any more time.”

Shirogane says, “You’re the detective here, Saihara-kun. Where should we start?”

Almost everyone is eyeing Saihara expectantly. He starts to sweat.

_The poor guy looks a hair’s breadth from collapsing under the pressure. We can’t afford to just rely on one person, especially when that person is so obviously not ready for that kind of responsibility._

Before he can say as much, Momota beats him to the punch. “What the hell do you guys think you’re doing, huh? We can’t just sit on our asses and leave everything to Saihara!”

“Hmm? Could it be that you don’t trust in Saihara-chan’s ability to solve the case, Momota-chan?” Ouma’s smile can only be called evil.

Momota growls, “That ain’t it! Of course I believe in him – that just doesn’t mean the rest of us should be fucking useless! Instead of letting him handle everything on his own ‘cos he’s a detective, we should be doing everything we can to _help_ him.”

“I agree!” Akamatsu chimes in. “I don’t think it’s wrong to rely on Saihara-kun in a situation like this, but _he_ should be able to rely on _us_ , too. We’ve got to support each other to get through this!”

Amami nods. “Well spoken.” _If a bit crass on Momota’s part_. “If all of us pitch in, we’ll crack the case in no time. What do you say, Saihara-kun?”

Compared to a minute ago, the boy in question is looking immensely more comfortable and relieved – he no longer has the weight of the world resting solely on his shoulders. “It sounds good. I’ll do what I can, and in return…” he pauses, casting a long look around the room. His gazes lingers on certain faces before coming to stop on Akamatsu. “…I’ll be counting on all of you.”

Momota is the first to respond. “Alright! Let’s do this!”

“I’ll do my part. I have to know why Iruma-san was the one to die,” Kiibo says.

“It really is a pain, but I guess it can’t be helped,” comes Yumeno’s unenthusiastic but willing voice.

Ouma shrugs. “I was planning on investigating, anyway. It would’ve been boring to leave it all to Saihara-chan.”

“I’ll do whatever I can to help,” Toujou says, standing primly.

Akamatsu, still holding Saihara’s gaze, finally smiles and nods. “…Yeah. Count me in.”

_It looks like those two are going to work out their problems. That’s good_.

Hoshi interrupts the feel-good moment with a reality check. “Hey, if you’re all done with the inspirational speeches, shouldn’t we start actually investigating?”

“I agree, but we still don’t know where to even begin,” Shinguuji replies.

“Checking out the body and the surrounding crime scene should come first. That’s just common sense,” Harukawa says, looking unimpressed.

“Actually—” Saihara interrupts, regaining the attention of the room, “—there _is_ one thing I’d like to check before anything else while everyone is still here, if you don’t mind.”

“What is it?” Gonta asks.

“That.” The detective gestures to the device still in Akamatsu’s hands. “The Monokuma File. If it has general information regarding the case, we should all see what’s on it. However, there’s just the one, so…”

In hindsight, this fact strikes him as a little odd. Why didn’t Monokuma give them all a file? Wouldn’t it have made sense to make sure every student would have access to something so vital? _Then again, why am I so sure everyone getting a Monokuma File is how it’s_ supposed _to be? Why do I feel like the fact that there’s only one file this time is an exception – because even Monokuma didn’t think there’d be a trial – rather than the rule?_

_My head hurts._

“Yes, that makes sense!” Chabashira says – or rather, shouts. “Should we take turns passing it around, or—”

“It would be faster  to just read it aloud,” Saihara says. “Akamatsu-san, would you…?”

The girl nods, looking determined. “Right, leave it to me.”

Everyone holds their breath as she turns the device on. Akamatsu inhales and starts to read:

_“The victim is Iruma Miu._

_Time of death is exactly 10:00 pm._

_Cause of death is a snapped neck as a result from a blow to the head. In addition, the victim also has many broken bones and internal injuries from falling, including a broken spinal cord.”_

She stops and closes her eyes.

“Is that all?” Saihara asks.

Akamatsu nods.  She hands the device to him and says, “Well? Does any of that information help, Saihara-kun?”

The detective hesitates. “I can’t be sure yet. On its own, it’s too general to tell me anything that would point towards the killer. But it could be useful in combination with future evidence.”

_There’s something about the way that it was worded that bothers me,_ Amami thinks. _It sounds as if Iruma-san definitely fell, but is that what killed her? Akamatsu-san was right earlier – a fall from this height down to the floor below shouldn’t be enough to kill someone… Unless they fell on their head, which_ would _account for the neck snapping, but…_

He glances at the manhole in contemplation. _Would it even be possible to fall like that with an opening of that size?_

“Anyway,” Saihara continues, “now that we’ve all heard what’s on the file, we should start investigating. We’ll need to thoroughly check this room and the one below, as well as the body. It might also be a good idea to check the surroundings outside, just in case. Finally, I’ll need everyone’s alibi for the time of death – exactly ten pm.”

“Leave that to me!” Akamatsu says. “I’m not sure how much help I can be in investigating, so I’ll at least be useful by getting everyone’s alibis, okay, Saihara-kun?”

The boy nods. “Alright. There are a few other things I’d like to check,” he says, glancing briefly at Shirogane and Kiibo, “but for now we can split up and get to work.”

The determined – almost _cheerful_ , despite the circumstances – mood is infectious, and Amami finds himself smiling and playing along. “Okay!” he announces.

“Let’s get this investigation underway!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had really intended for this chapter to reach the beginning of the trial, but as always my words got away from me. That said, the next chapter WILL be just investigation so I can devote the chapter after it entirely to the trial - that also means the next chapter will be shorter and theoretically come out sooner. Anyway, what are you guys thinking? Still liking this? The characterization still decent? Akamatsu and Saihara are making strides towards fixing things, but they've got a ways to go yet - but I promise, the bulk of the angst between them is over with. I'll be adding at least one tag to this fic next chapter to signify another important relationship I'm introducing, but I'm not gonna spoil you with that yet. ;P


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